Cullen Family Camping Trip II: Back to the Woods
by LeesaM
Summary: After the first disastrous camping trip Bella and the Cullens are ready to put it behind them and move toward the upcoming wedding, until Charlie's 'thank you' present sends the household back into a panic - and back to the woods. Uh oh.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi everyone!! Sorry it took so long for me to get to this, but here is the sequel I promised. The beginning is a bit slower than the first one, but hang in there - we have to establish what's going on before we can get to the...rest of it, lol. **

**CFCT I is up for a few awards, as are some of my other stories (as most of you know from my annoying alerts). Please visit my profile page and go vote - it would mean a lot to me, and one of the contests ends in a few days (the Indies). Thanks again. **

**A special thanks to Ana - without her help, you probably wouldn't be reading this now. I was pulling my hair out, and she really helped me get everything sorted. THANKS ANA! *hugs***

Chapter One:

It had only been a week since we'd returned from the disastrous camping trip. I still shuddered when thinking of all the things that had happened. The leeches and ticks had been the end of it for me, and thankfully, Carlisle had realized it as well and brought us home.

Upon our re-entry to civilization Alice had gone shopping crazy. She and Rosalie had disappeared for a few days, and every time I was at the Cullens during that time new deliveries would arrive, all with different shipping labels. When I'd asked Edward about it he'd muttered something about fashion week in New York, and to just be thankful that I hadn't been dragged along. I let it go at that.

With their wives absent, Jasper and Emmett had taken to yet another video game challenge. How that never got old to them, I'd never understand. Rosalie had been eager to go with Alice; she was still furious with Emmett, even though it had technically been Edward who'd caused the last mishap. She'd been mad at Edward, but had said that if Emmett hadn't started the nonsense with all the animals and hadn't acted so juvenile with his prank on Edward, then Edward would have never felt the need to retaliate.

They'd had to throw out everything that had been packed in the Jeep, and Rosalie and Emmett both had to soak in tubs of tomato juice for hours just to get rid of the skunk's smell. Just when we thought Emmett couldn't get any more ridiculous, we were all proven wrong. Despite Rosalie's flaring temper, he'd tried to make a joke of the whole situation by dipping a celery stick into her tomato bath and waggling his eyebrows as he murmured something about Bloody Mary's. When Rosalie blew up all over again I couldn't blame her – they didn't even eat or drink human food, so why would he have thought she would find that to be funny? Regardless, I'd had to throw out all my goldfish crackers; what was the point of keeping them – I'd never eat tomato soup again.

The second the stench was off, Rosalie had grabbed Alice and practically run from the house. She'd also taken the liberty of having Emmett's Jeep towed away to the dump.

I suppose a few days away from Emmett made Rosalie forgive him, because when she and Alice returned from their trip, Alice pulled up in her usual yellow Porsche, but Rosalie pulled up in a brand new Jeep Wrangler Unlimited – red, of course. Emmett had practically smashed the front door in his haste to get outside to see it, and when he got to Rosalie, he grabbed her up into his arms, twirling her around and around as her laughter filled the air. It was good to see them getting along again; I wondered how long it would last.

My mind eagerly returned to the present, as Edward was trailing his fingertips across my collarbone, gazing into my eyes. We were lying on a soft blanket in our meadow, and I was relishing the peaceful bliss this place held for us. I leaned in to meet Edward's lips with mine, when reality interrupted.

"So, Bella - what do you think?" Alice chirped. She was sitting directly across from us, holding yet another copy of her wedding binder in her lap, while staring at me expectantly. Edward and I had wanted some alone time, but she'd insisted on coming with us, and I was finding the usual private, romantic seclusion of the meadow to be definitely lacking with the addition of her presence despite my efforts to ignore her.

What was it she wanted now? Oh, right - she was asking me about finalizing the details with the caterer for the wedding. We'd had a tremendous response, and she was worried about there being enough food.

Wedding plans were not fun to me, but I still felt bad about Alice's previous binder ending up in the mud. Edward grasped my hand, squeezing it comfortingly.

"Well, Alice, I'm not sure - what was the final amount of guests we had confirm?" I asked, mad at myself for not paying closer attention. Alice glanced back down at the sheet in her hand, when suddenly, she froze. Her eyes became unfocused, and I knew the signs - she was having a vision.

After a moment, she shook her head lightly and looked at Edward. "Oh no, what is he doing?" she asked, as Edward began pinching the bridge of his nose. I knew he'd seen what the vision was, and I was becoming irritated at being left out.

Alice hopped up off the ground, papers flying everywhere, and pulled out her cell. She hit a button and waited. "He's not picking up - he's already on the other line, no, no, no..." she muttered to herself, hitting 'redial.' After waiting for the call to go through again and still not getting an answer, she jammed the phone back into her pocket, crouched down and collected her papers and binder within seconds, and took off into the woods at an unbelievable rate.

After I'd recovered from the blur that had encompassed my senses, I turned to Edward. "What just happened?"

"Alice had a vision - it's best if we just head back to the house, Bella," he said evasively.

"Was it something bad? You're worrying me, Edward," I said nervously.

Edward turned and kissed my forehead softly. "No, love - it's not...bad...your father just figured out a way to thank us for taking you camping. Come - let's go home, and we'll figure it out there," he replied, smiling softly at me. His smile always made me melt, so I willingly obliged as he tossed me onto his back with the blanket in hand, and began running us back to the car.

I wondered why the idea of Charlie deciding on a way to thank the Cullens had panicked Alice so much - how bad could it be? My father's resources were limited, so I couldn't for the life of me think of what had freaked her out, but as we reached the car, I realized it must be something big - Alice had rode here with us, and since the Volvo was still waiting where we'd left it, she must have forgotten the car and ran all the way. Uh oh.

"Edward, what exactly happened in her vision?" I asked, fastening my seatbelt.

Edward took a deep breath and sighed as he began to explain what Alice had seen. Charlie had decided to sign all of the Cullens - except for Carlisle and Esme - up to be counselors at Camp Catawba, a local summer camp for kids. She had seen him submitting the forms online while calling Carlisle to tell him the news, which explained her frantic phone calls - she had been trying to intercept Charlie's call; when Carlisle hadn't answered she'd panicked and tried to run home as a last ditch effort to somehow stop the situation.

Upon hearing this news from Edward, I sat in silence, desperately hoping that Alice had managed to stop this ridiculous situation. What was with my father, anyway? The closer the wedding got, the more sentimental he became; maybe he was just trying to become closer with the Cullens, and didn't know how else to do it. They didn't exactly have a lot in common, after all.

Minutes later, we were crossing the threshold of the house, taking in the scene before us. Alice was sulking on the couch next to a fairly disturbed looking Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie were standing in the corner, both with their arms crossed across their chests, and Carlisle was standing in the middle of the room, with Esme at his side.

"Edward, Bella - come in and sit down, please. We're having a discussion," Carlisle said kindly, gesturing to the rest of the family.

Edward paused, glancing at Carlisle, then sighed, and steered me towards the love seat. More silent communication; this time, however, I could assume from Edward's reaction that we weren't about to receive good news. I sat down with the ease of someone trying to get comfortable in an electric chair.

Carlisle cleared his throat. "Well, as we've been discussing, Charlie called this afternoon while the three of you were out," he said,indicating Alice, Edward and I. "Apparently, he's been struggling with trying to figure out how to repay us for taking the time to teach Bella the basics of the outdoors. While I tried to reassure him any such thing was completely unnecessary, he refused, insisting he'd found a way that would make everyone happy."

"Yes, and if you'd answered the other line when I was calling, we'd have been able to avoid this whole situation," Alice huffed.

"Enough, Alice - call waiting is rude, and I wasn't about to interrupt Charlie, so you're going to have to let it go," Carlisle admonished. "I still don't know which one of you keeps having it added to our phone packages, but it's nothing more than an annoyance." He glanced around the room, as each of his children's eyes shifted away from his gaze guiltily.

Carlisle went on to explain what had happened. This afternoon, while having lunch at the diner, my father had noticed a flyer on the billboard. It had been seeking volunteers to be camp counselors for a week. He'd immediately thought of the Cullens, and how much they loved camping, and how thankful I had been to him for setting up the last excursion. Me and my stupid sentimentality - I should have known I'd end up regretting my fake enthusiasm. He'd also considered it a wonderful way to thank Carlisle and Esme - he'd be emptying their house of teenagers for week, allowing them to have some time alone.

I glanced around the room, trying to determine from the surrounding expressions what our fate was, hoping my assumption was wrong - surely, we wouldn't have to actually do this, right? Edward was sitting motionless beside me, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose again. Crap.

Carlisle sighed. "Now, I am sorry about your involvement, Bella; however, it won't be like the last experience, so things should go differently. You'll have a real roof over your head – there are cabins there, and since it's a camp for humans, all of the necessities will already be provided for, including food. I was told they've even been under recent construction, making improvements to the camp's facilities," Carlisle said, smiling apologetically at me before turning his attention back to the rest of theteenagersin the room. "As you all know, Bella's father has been trying to find a way to connect with this family since the wedding plans were announced. This idea had him so excited...and besides, I really don't see the harm. I see selfless people volunteering everyday at the hospital, and yet all of you, with unlimited free time on your hands, rarely contribute to society. I think some charity work will be good for you, and this is a great opportunity for you to do your part. Besides – if nothing else, our last disaster of a trip has made me realize more than ever that we need to be able to adapt and fit in with society if we're going to continue to live the way we do."

Carlisle continued to explain that the new camp owner had been overwhelmed with gratitude upon receiving the forms in her email – apparently, she had decided to relocate to the area recently to take the position and had lost the forms of most of the other volunteers in the moving process. She was still a few states away and was having trouble with her moving company, so she wouldn't even make it into town until two days before camp was scheduled to start. She had been on the verge of having to cancel the camp at the last minute this year due to a lack of help and had been in a panic. Even with the town's help of posting flyers expressing the need for help, she'd still only received new forms from one other counselor and had hardly any help aside from that – even their maintenance man had quit the previous year when learning the camp was changing owners. Carlisle said that it would have looked appalling to rescind our applications after practically being called heroes by the owner.

"Now, whether you like it or not, you'll all be leaving in a week to be camp counselors at Camp Catawba," Carlisle finished with a stern expression. He glanced pointedly back at Alice. "Oh – and you should all know, there are packing restrictions. The camp has a non-negotiable policy regarding all types of technology and such luxury items. They want the kids to forget about video games and all of those things and focus on the outdoors. That being said, you are all allocated the same size bag, and all of your items must fit in it. You cannot take anything other than the basic necessities, period. I'll be checking your bags before you leave, so don't try to sneak something past me."

Alice's eyes were practically bulging out of her head, but before she could say anything, Emmett interrupted.

"Seriously - a week with human kids on our hands? What are we supposed to do - I don't know anything about kids," Emmett said loudly. "And what about him - do you really think that's a good idea?" he continued, gesturing towards Jasper, who was still sitting in silence next to Alice, looking positively horrified. "What if one of the kids cuts themselves - doesn't anyone here remember the incident with Bella's birthday?"

At the mere mention of that horrible night, Edward growled, and pulled me protectively into his arms.

"Jasper's doing much better these days, Emmett, you know that," Alice snapped defensively, as she curled her tiny distressed frame into her husband's side.

"Quiet everyone. All of you attend school over and over again and have been around countless humans on a daily basis for years. I have no doubt that Jasper would fare just fine," Carlisle said, as his gaze flitted over to me. "At the same time...precautions should be taken just to be safe - luckily, there's an easy solution. Charlie said that the camp only needed five more counselors, but as I mentioned earlier, they need additional help – Jasper will be accepting the position as this year's maintenance man and groundskeeper."

While Jasper took in Carlisle's response, waves of relief swept the room, shortly followed by irritation and a heavy sigh...apparently he didn't like the idea of being a maintenance man.

"As far as what you'll need to know about kids, well, it's not rocket science, Emmett. You all understand the basics - that argument just doesn't cut it and you know it. And before anyone starts using the threat of the sun as a way out, Alice – begrudgingly – has checked the forecast for that week, and her assessment is consistent cloud cover. Of course we'll check again closer to the end of the week, but given the area's usual weather, I expect it to be fine." Carlisle paused for a moment, as if thinking.

"Oh, and one more thing - before any of you start mumbling about how Esme and I don't have to participate, you should know that I've offered my services as a physician for the camp. The regular nurse that volunteers has been given the time off, which she is grateful for. I will be taking some vacation time with the hospital for myself to allow me to be able to help out as needed. The camp offers accommodations for the on-site physician, so I'll be able to keep an eye on all of you. I'll have extra blood bags on hand in my refrigerator in the event any of you need to feed discreetly."

Of course he was going to volunteer – as much as he tried to make it seem harmless for me to be participating, it was fairly obvious that he was still concerned about my well-being - he was using his vacation time just to work somewhere else for goodness sake. I had to wonder if his giant medical supply trunk would be joining him on this 'vacation.'

"Esme, being the considerate, selfless person she is has also volunteered to help out in the kitchen. So, as you can see, this will be a family effort." As Carlisle's words rang with finality, the one person in the room who hadn't said a word the entire time suddenly spoke, practically causing the rest of us to jump.

"Wait. Are you saying that we'll each be in complete charge of a group of children for an entire week? That we are solely responsible for caring for their needs, and that they will be dependent on us?" Rosalie asked quietly, her arms still crossed.

Carlisle hesitated before responding. "Yes, Rosalie. That's exactly what I am saying."

We all braced ourselves, waiting for the fury.

It never came. Instead, Rosalie relaxed, her arms dropping to her sides, her expression ethereal. "All right," she murmured, so softly it was hard to hear. A smile slowly began creeping across her face. "When did you say we leave?"

Unbelievable - Rosalie was actually happy about this. Now that was something I wasn't expecting.

**A/N: I was nervous about this story, so please review? You know how much I love reviews, lol...**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow - it was so great to see all of your names again in the reviews! I missed you guys. *sniff* Anyway, thanks for the reviews and encouragement, here's Chapter Two. (Oh and thanks again to Ana - her name is silkoverglass - if you get a chance check out her story and be sure to encourage her to finish it, lol - without her help, I might not have bothered to post this!) :)**

Chapter Two:

When Edward was driving me home, he explained that Rosalie was thrilled at the idea of having children to care for - I should have realized that, I suppose. I was just shocked that she was so accepting of the idea that I hadn't taken the time to think _why_ she was. It made perfect sense, now - the only thing she'd ever really wanted was to have children, and now she'd have a whole group of them following her around. If only the rest of us could be so enthusiastic - because we weren't, not at all. I was dreading the entire thing.

Someone was really going to have to talk to Carlisle about his compassion issue - after our last excursion I surely thought he'd learned his lesson. I mean, really, how hard would it have been for him to simply say that they would be busy that week, or something - anything.

"Bella, we're here...did you want me to come in with you?" Edward said, breaking me from my reverie.

I sighed. "No, just meet me upstairs as usual. I'll talk to Charlie myself." Not that there was anything to say - the plans had been made, the forms filled out. Not to mention I couldn't bear to make my father feel bad...and Carlisle had pretty much laid down the law anyway. Still, I couldn't help but think to myself that maybe it was all just a horrible mistake, and Charlie would clear everything up.

Upon entering the living room and seeing my father's expression, I instantly felt bad for being upset with him. He looked so happy; he was grinning from ear to ear, lounging lazily on the worn sofa. I tried to cement the image in my mind, worried that I'd forget it after becoming immortal.

"Hey, Bells. You know what happened today? Well, I guess you do - you just came from the Cullens, so you probably already know all about it," he chuckled. I smiled faintly at him and encouraged him to recount the events of his day, as he was clearly eager to share the details with someone. Putting my own issues aside, I sat down and listened to him patiently, knowing that no matter what the upcoming week held for me, it would be worth it to see my father so relaxed and happy…hopefully.

I spent most of the night staring at my ceiling while Edward continually tried to calm my nerves. Of course, like any teenager, I had babysat when I lived in Phoenix so I was familiar enough with children, but that didn't mean that I actually liked them - nor did I dislike them, I guess I just didn't know how to relate to them. I hadn't been a very popular babysitter; it had been a short-lived career. Now I was facing a week with an entire group of children all under my care. As I began to wonder if Rosalie would be willing to take my group in with her own, Edward reached over and hit a button on the alarm clock, signaling that it had been about to go off. I hadn't slept much anyway – I'd dozed in and out, images of kids falling off cliffs and plunging to their deaths while everyone pointed accusing fingers in my direction kept popping into my head.

I sighed, and swung my legs over to the edge of my bed abruptly.

"Bella? Are you all right?" Edward asked, concerned.

"I'm fine. Just a bit apprehensive about what's to come next week," I answered truthfully. As I began to rise from the bed, my wrist was lightly secured within Edward's as he gently pulled me back to him. The concern was still etched across his features as my reluctant gaze met his.

"Really, Edward, I'm fine. I'm just so nervous - what if I injure one of those kids by accident?" I asked, trying to force down the anxiety.

"Bella, love, you'll be fine. I promise - we'll all be watching out for you. Please don't worry so much," he soothed, and as my eyes slowly became lost in his I almost began to forget what I'd been worrying about - almost. Snapping my attention back to my current predicament, I gently tugged at my wrist, and he willingly let go.

"I'm going to go get ready. I'll be fine, Edward - it's just nerves." He still looked slightly uncertain, so I pulled his hand up to my lips and placed a kiss on the back of his hand.

After getting dressed, I returned from the bathroom and began to pack for the night. I would be spending tonight at the Cullens – under the pretense that Alice would be sharing her room with me, of course. These days my weeks were typically split in half - the nights Charlie would be working late I'd just sleep at Edward's house, and the nights when he would be around I'd spend at home.

When we arrived at the Cullens, it was oddly quiet – Emmett was the only one in sight. He was in his usual place - parked in front of the television, watching a baseball game. Edward said that Jasper was hunting again, Alice was in her room fretting over the packing limitations, and Rosalie was on her computer researching six and seven year olds.

As we passed by the couch, Emmett turned in my direction. "What's up, Bella? Excited about our new adventure? Maybe you'll find some new kind of bugs that decide to attach themselves to you," he snorted.

"Yeah – right, Emmett. Or maybe you'll go all Snow White on us and get another weird fixation with the forest animals. Bet Rosalie would love that," I snapped back in response.

If it were possible, I would have sworn that Emmett's face paled two shades before he quietly turned back to the game on television.

Edward and I spent the rest of the day quietly in his room. After all, it wasn't likely that we would have much alone time once we left for camp, and I was intent on enjoying every second of it that I could until then. Just before it was time to return home, I realized that we'd made it through the entire day without one interruption from Alice, which was…unheard of, really. Edward chuckled and said that for now, it was best to leave her alone. She really wasn't taking the packing restrictions well at all. Once ready for bed, I curled up in Edward's arms for the night; I could only hope that exhaustion would allow for a better night's sleep tonight.

The next morning, I felt slightly more rested - I'd only woken up twice during the night, each time from some sort of outburst. Edward had quickly soothed me back to sleep though, for which I was thankful.

Before heading into the bathroom to dress for the day, I questioned Edward about the noises that had woken me up. Rolling his eyes, he explained that despite her ability to see the future, Alice had failed her luggage inspection twice and was livid with Carlisle . The first time she failed she'd been caught trying to sneak her laptop into her luggage after he had already approved her bag. The second time, he'd merely found a spare set of keys to her Porsche, but upon watching her reaction as she nervously waited for approval, Carlisle had thought better of it and headed to the garage purposefully, where he found her car overflowing with a ridiculous amount of clothing, makeup and electronics. Had she really planned on coming back to get it after we'd arrived at camp?

While Edward murmured something about her visions not including Carlisle's decisions therefore not being fool-proof, I had to wonder what state of mind she must be in to not only be trying to pack with a full week still to go before we left.

After I was dressed, I told Edward I thought I should go check on Alice – I was beginning to worry about her. Maybe I could help her some how. Edward chuckled and wished me luck.

I knocked gently on her door, which was closed.

"What?!" her pixie-like voice squeaked in response.

"Um…it's just me, Alice – are you all right?" I asked hesitantly.

The door cracked open an inch. "Of course I knew it was you, Bella – what I meant was, what do you need?"

"Oh…sorry…umm….well nothing, really. I was just checking on you – you've been quiet for a while. I'm sorry, I'll leave you alone," I muttered, feeling stupid for bothering her. Clearly she was distressed.

"No, wait Bella – I'm sorry, I'm just so frustrated. Come in, maybe you can help me figure this out," she said, obviously feeling bad for being so abrupt.

"Well all right…if you're sure. I don't want to bother you," I said as I entered her room. Instantly, I stopped in my tracks, silently taking in the disaster area that now surrounded me.

There were piles everywhere. The entire surface of Alice's floor was covered with piles of clothes, shoes, accessories, hair products and countless other items, all organized by color. As I glanced back at Alice , I fully took in her disheveled appearance; her usual stylish, neatly orchestrated spiky hair was now sticking up in all directions as if she'd been tugging t it crazily – she sort of resembled an asterisk.

I didn't say a word. I just stared at her, waiting for some kind of explanation.

"Well, what do you think, Bella?" she asked somewhat impatiently.

I glanced helplessly back around the room, trying to figure out what I was supposed to be offering an opinion on. "Err – about what, exactly?"

Alice sighed. "I'm only allowed to pack so many things, and I don't know what the campers will be wearing, and since we're going to be considered a group we should all coordinate but I have no idea where to start – how can I possibly pack anything when I have no idea what I'm going to be working with once I get there?" she rambled, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, her words all running together.

"Nobody expects you to 'coordinate' with your campers, Alice. You know that, right?" I asked carefully.

Alice glared at me.

"Ok, ok…well, I don't know – I guess you could just take a couple things from each pile?" I suggested, knowing there was still no way she'd ever fit even that amount of things into her allotted luggage.

"Never mind, Bella…I'll just have to figure something else out…" she murmured, her brows creasing together in concentration.

"Ok, well I'll just leave you to it, then," I said looking around the room again warily.

"You know, you could always just open your own clothing store at the camp," I added sarcastically, turning towards the door. I didn't look back to see what I was sure was a look of irritation on Alice 's face.

Much to my surprise, before I reached the end of the hall the sound of feet lightly padding across the floor warned me only a second before Alice picked me up in an enthusiastic embrace. "Bella! I can't thank you enough, you have no idea!" she whispered before dropping me and running back to her room.

I heard Edward chuckling from downstairs, and still lost in the state of confusion Alice left me in, I joined him. Carlisle and Esme were with him in the living room, reading the morning paper. They greeted me warmly as I sat down on the couch next to Edward.

Minutes later Alice and Jasper appeared at the bottom of the stairs; Alice 's entire demeanor was different – she now looked hopeful, her hair was back to its usual state, and there were no more signs of the anxiety attack I'd witnessed minutes before.

Carlisle lowered the newspaper he was reading, watching Alice steadily. "So Alice , you do understand the rules, right? I know last night was difficult for you," he said carefully.

"Yes, I understand the rules perfectly, and I have no problem with them," Alice replied easily.

"Well…that certainly is a change from yesterday – what brought about the change in your behavior?" Esme asked.

Alice shrugged dismissively. "Sometimes things just have a way of working out," she said. Carlisle was about to say something when Alice looked at the clock and turned to the door. "Oops – got to go, it's a busy day," she said hurriedly. "Come on Jasper," she added as she tugged him towards the door, leaving Carlisle, Esme and myself staring after her in confusion. Edward, on the other hand, looked highly entertained.

"Edward?" Carlisle asked expectantly. "I don't suppose you're going to offer us any insight as to what that was all about?"

"Oh no – I'm _not_ getting in the middle of this. In fact, Bella and I were on our way out for the day too," he said. We had plans to spend the day in Port Angeles at a new bookstore that had opened. During the drive there, I asked Edward what Alice was up to.

"Let's just say that she has an entirely new project to keep her and Jasper busy this week," he said cryptically.

"Does it involve me and any type of makeover?" I whispered in fear.

"No, it doesn't involve you directly, love," Edward murmured, resting his hand on my leg reassuringly. That was all that mattered – as long as I didn't have to worry about being attacked by Alice with some new wardrobe or hair product then I wouldn't concern myself with the details.

The rest of the week passed quickly – each day that brought us closer to leaving for the camp became a blur of apprehension for me. I slept at my dad's for the rest of the week since Charlie was home early those nights, and every morning when Edward and I arrived at the Cullen house, Alice and Jasper were almost always absent. Once or twice I thought about asking for further details about what was taking up so much of their time, but each time I let it go – I was afraid that if I heard about some crazy scheme my anxiety would only further increase, and I was trying my best to appear normal after all.

* * *

Eventually the inevitable happened - Sunday morning arrived. The new owner wanted the counselors and volunteers to get there a day before the campers arrived on Monday to get settled in. As predicted, the local forecast for the upcoming week matched Alice 's perfectly – it would be heavily cloudy every day.

Everyone was hurrying around the Cullen house trying to ensure they had packed their essentials, while Carlisle did a final check of everyone's bags. As I sat in the corner of the kitchen chewing a granola bar slowly, I couldn't help but think how familiar this scene was. The very thought gave me chills.

Finally, after an hour, we had all passed inspection and Carlisle had loaded the bags into the cars. He insisted on doing it himself, as apparently he wasn't entirely trusting of Alice 's strangely calm attitude. She'd spent most of the morning up in her room, saying she had some last minute details of some sort to straighten out.

Just as we were ready to leave, Alice reappeared at the foot of the stairs ready to go. Carlisle looked at her warily, but seeing nothing suspicious, held out his hand for each person's cell phone as he waved us out the door – he was being very serious about all these rules. He quickly added that he and Esme would be arriving the following day, and as we made our way to the cars, I couldn't help but watch Alice 's petite form as she ever so slightly began to squirm, as if uncomfortable. How odd…

**A/N: I know it's still a little slow, but in the next chapter they will be arriving at camp, so it should begin to pick up. Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for reading, and thanks for all the wonderful reviews - you guys are the best!!**

**Chapter 3:**

Edward pulled his car into the gravel lined parking area carefully. He didn't say as much, but the crease in his brow told me he was thinking of the marks the tiny stones could leave on the Volvo's pristine finish. A moment later, Emmett's new Jeep spun in beside us with music blaring, sending gravel flying everywhere. Edward growled under his breath as a wave of pebbles bounced off the exterior of his car.

"Edward, it'll be ok - you know Rosalie can buff any marks out easily, don't worry," I whispered, hoping to calm him. The last thing we needed was an altercation in the parking lot to alert the camp owner that something was amiss with the new counselors.

Edward took a deep, unnecessary breath. "Of course, love. You're right. Now - let's go see what this place has in store for us, shall we?" He was out of the car and opening my door before I could blink, all while grinning crookedly at me.

Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper and Alice all piled out of the adjacent vehicle. Alice was squirming uncomfortably, tugging at her midsection.

"What's going on with Alice ? Why does she keep fidgeting and squirming like something's bothering her?"

Edward glanced at his favorite sister, his expression full of humor. "She's got her new Blackberry duct-taped to her stomach," he whispered, chuckling quietly.

Unsure of how to respond to that, I merely blinked while shaking my head.

We left our bags in the cars, unsure of what was expected of Edward's lead, we made our way up to the cabin marked "Office." We'd barely set foot on the first step when the screen door flung open, and a large, burly woman appeared, grinning widely at us. Alice 's eyes widened at her appearance.

She was wearing a sleeveless flannel shirt and cut-off cargo pants. Her sandy colored hair was wavy, and had been cut in the style of what I'd heard referred to as a mullet. She had heavy black combat boots on, and striped tube socks stuck out the tops of them. She was almost as big as Emmett.

"Welcome! Seeing as the other volunteers have already checked in, I'm guessing you all must be the bunch Chief Swan recommended, am I right?" the woman questioned, still grinning.

"Yes...that's us," Edward replied. He made all the appropriate introductions, each of us nodding as our names were spoken.

"Well, that's great. The name is Sue – they call me Big Sue. I'm the new owner, but I'm not around much – I live a few miles down the road. I'll only be checking in a couple times during the camp session, but there's a phone in the mess hall cafeteria in case of emergencies - my number's at the top of the list. The Chief said you all were impeccable outdoors men - and women," Sue chuckled, then paused, glancing around at all of us again. "Not to be rude, but was the Chief actually right about that? You all are awfully pale to spend much time outdoors..." she trailed off, looking confused.

"Sun screen," Alice chirped, still squirming slightly. "As you know, our father is a physician, and we've always been told to apply, then re-apply - you can't be too careful."

"Oh - right, of course!" Sue replied, looking relieved. "Well, you all should be of great help around here – this camp likes to teach the campers as much as we can, and give them a break from all the technology that tends to overshadow our lives these days – hence our strict packing restrictions. Ok then, let's get you all registered and settled in." As we signed some forms, Sue explained what we'd already been told - that the kids wouldn't be arriving until the following day, which caused Rosalie to sigh impatiently.

After the forms were completed, we collected our bags from the vehicles and then returned to Sue, who led us down a windy path into the woods. As the trees thickened, various images started popping into my head...poison ivy, mosquitoes, ticks, leeches... As if sensing my internal panic attack, Edward reached down and took my hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly. I reminded myself to apply more bug repellant once I had the chance – I'd be bathing in it this time if necessary.

As we stepped into the clearing, I began to fully take everything in. It was a huge area - there were eight cabins, all spread out in a circular format with a giant fire pit in the center, dividing the cabins into two groups of four. There was also about a half dozen large picnic tables dispersed throughout the clearing.

The cabins themselves looked somewhat run-down. Each had a small front porch on it, and a tiny sign on the porch post that had a number on it, ranging from one to eight. Their appearance alone had my curiosity getting the better of me, and I couldn't help myself from glancing over at Alice to see how she was coping. What was strange was that she was gazing at Edward as if watching for _his_ reaction. I could only imagine what she was thinking, which made me turn my focus to Edward to see if I could get any clues.

Oddly, when I glanced over at Edward, I noticed he'd become quite still. His expression was one of pure stone, and he was currently glaring in the direction of the cabin marked Cabin #2. Curious, I turned my attention back to Alice, who was now almost smirking, her gaze also focused on Edward.

"So, did everyone get that? Any questions?" Sue asked, interrupting my thoughts. Crap - what had she been saying? I frantically looked back at Edward, who snapped out of his glaring to whisper what I'd missed in my ear. Sue had just been going over basic rules, and letting us know that we'd get our daily schedules the following day.

"Well, I guess I'll leave you to it, then. You can choose what cabins you want, just remember the rules - girls on the right side of the circle, boys on the left. Oh - I probably should introduce you to the other three volunteers that are already here – I got lucky, and the other counselor was able to get some additional help to come along with him," Sueadded, as if it were an afterthought.

"Newton ! Stanley ! Weber!Front and center!" Sue barked, loud enough for the next town to hear.

What? Did she really just say those three names? As Edward began to tense again, suddenly it made sense. He'd already heard their thoughts, and knew who the other volunteers were. Obviously, he wasn't thrilled about Mike Newton and Jessica Stanley - none of us would be. Angela Weber, however, would be a welcome addition - at least to me.

The door to Cabin #2 swung open, and three of my previous classmates emerged. Upon first glance, they all looked curious, but as each of their gazes settled on us, their expressions began to change. Angela looked pleasantly surprised and waved excitedly at me, Jessica looked what could only be described as resentful, and Mike looked both eager and irritated, as his gaze shifted back and forth between Edward and myself.

"Well...it seems as though you all already know one another - that's good, it will help with the spirit of the camp," Sue said. "Here are your camper information sheets – study them thoroughly, we like our counselors and volunteers to know each kid by name – it makes them more comfortable. I've matched the kids' personalities to each of your own personality traits listed on your applications, so you should all have lots in common with your campers."

Huh. Charlie had filled out our 'personality traits' for us – I hope he got everything right. If nothing else, I suppose it would show how well he actually knew the Cullens.

Sue made a few more comments, explaining that Mike was a counselor, and Jessica and Angela had volunteered to help run various camp activities, then awkwardly excused herself, and headed back up the path that led to the office. Halfway up, she turned back around. "You'll all need to report back up front this afternoon for orientation. Oh – and you – Hale, isn't it? Yes you – you need to come with me. The groundskeeper's accommodations are separate from the counselors and volunteers. Come along and I'll show you where you'll be staying," Sue huffed, motioning for Jasper to follow her.

With one last wistful glance at Alice , Jasper hung his head and took off after Sue. Alice waved at him, and then turned her attention back to the cabins.

Alice tilted her head to the side and politely asked Jessica and Angela about their living arrangements, even though I was sure she already knew which cabin they'd claimed. They revealed that they would be sharing cabin #7 since they wouldn't have any campers in their cabin. Alice nodded, and then turned to the rest of us.

"Mike, I assume you're in Cabin #2 since you all just exited it?" Alice asked. He merely nodded in response.

"Ok. Well, with that being taken into consideration, I think it's best if the cabins are distributed as follows," she began. She turned to the guys first.

"Emmett, you take cabin #1, Mike, of course you're already in cabin #2, cabin #3 will just remain empty, and Edward you should take cabin #4." She paused, and then turned to the girls.

"Bella, you take cabin #5, I'll take cabin #6, of course Jessica and Angela are in #7, and Rosalie will take cabin #8. That should settle it," she surmised. In a matter of seconds she had us all assigned as she saw fit, and I couldn't help but notice that my cabin was next to Edward's, or that Emmett and Rosalie's were also adjacent to one another. I had no idea how she'd sorted it all out so quickly, but I wasn't going to argue.

* * *

Later, as I was placing my belongings into the worn, tiny dresser by the side of my bed, I turned to place the empty duffel bag under my bed when my peripheral vision caught sight of Edward, who had somehow not only entered my cabin, but was lounging quite comfortably across one of the adjacent beds, watching my every move.

"Edward! What are you doing in here? I thought we were supposed to be unpacking and learning about our future campers?" I asked, still amazed at his ability to practically materialize out of thin air.

He grinned crookedly in response. "Well, Bella, no one ever said we couldn't learn more about our campers together, did they? Aside from that, I have a perfectly good reason for being here," he added, his gaze shifting towards the cabin door.

Before I could ask what that reason was, there was a knock on the screen door. "Bella? Just thought I'd stop by and make sure you're settling in ok," Mike's voice drifted through the door's mesh covering.

My eyes wide, I turned back to Edward, who was already off the bed and moving towards the front of the cabin. What on earth was Mike doing at my door?

"Hello, Mike. Was there something you needed?" Edward asked, glaring purposefully through the screen at Mike. "Bella's settling in just fine, you needn't worry. As my future bride, I've ensured that she has everything she needs to make her stay quite comfortable."

"Err...of course. Sure. I just thought I'd check..." Mike trailed off, clearly put off. He turned and left almost as quickly as he'd appeared.

"Did you really need to make him feel so intimidated, Edward? The poor guy looked scared to death," I said disapprovingly.

"Bella, trust me, it was necessary," he responded, and at that, I let it drop. I didn't have the luxury of reading minds, so I guess I would have to trust his judgment.

We spent the next few hours pouring over the information charts of our campers – we would have ten kids each. Edward had his completely memorized within no time of course, but he helped me go through mine and even came up with creative ways to remember who was who, and all of their characteristics. It was extremely helpful that pictures had been included, so we could recognize the kids when they arrived tomorrow. It would surely make them feel special to have their counselors already know them by name.

When I was fairly sure I knew everything about every camper that would be under my care, I put the sheets down and looked up at Edward. "I wonder what everyone else is doing. It's odd to have Alice leave us alone for so long...surely she's bored by now?" Not that I was complaining - it was just quiet...very, very quiet.

"She's gone to hang out with Jasper. Emmett and Rosalie are hanging out in his cabin. Angela is reading, and Jessica is helping Newton look over his camper information sheets," he explained. "It's actually about time for us to head back up to the main office for orientation."

"Oh - that's right," I replied, grabbing my notebook and pen, causing Edward to look at me curiously.

"I might need to take notes - not everyone has the impeccable vampire memory that you do," I said, huffing as I moved towards the front of the cabin.

Edward chuckled quietly as he beat me to the door, holding it open it for me. Once outside, he silently took my hand in his as we made our way to the main office.

**A/N: Don't worry - what Alice was up to wasn't explained here, but it will be next chapter. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews - I'm really sorry I haven't had the chance to reply to all of them yet, I've been a bit busy - but please continue to write them, they really and truly make my day!! **

**Chapter 4: **

Once all of us had arrived, the tour began with the 'mess hall,' as Sue called it. It was to act as cafeteria, as well as a general meeting place for any events at the camp. It was really just a very large, open barn-like room with a cafeteria style kitchen set up in the far left corner.

Following that, we were taken on a tour of the grounds. We were shown where to find Jasper's cabin in case we needed to contact maintenance, and I couldn't help but notice Alice 's smirk as we passed this particular building. It was slightly larger than our cabins, and there was a huge old, rickety-looking shed that was attached to the back of the cabin. Knowing Alice had already inspected the property, and quite sure she would never happily approve of the appearance of it, I glanced curiously over at her. She met my gaze evenly as her mouth turned upwards even more, progressing from a smirk to a full grin. What was she thinking? I guess only time would tell...at least until I could ask Edward about it later.

Next we were shown the individual recreational areas for the camp activities. Some of them surprised me, and I asked if we would be expected to participate along with the campers, or if we would just be supervising. Thankfully, it was the latter of the two. Even so, I noticed Edward looked rather perplexed as we went through the different stations; he looked almost ill when we got to the mini Archery course.

After touring the activities areas, Sue led us around the back of the property to a large lake. She mentioned that the manual stated that the kids particularly love to spend their free time there, and that there were supposedly beach toys in the shed behind Jasper's cabin. She said she hadn't actually been in the shed yet, but that the manual said the maintenance man would gladly set the things out for the counselors to collect if they chose to visit the lake.

As we continued our walk, we were circling back up towards the front of the campgrounds when Sue came to a stop outside a small, freshly whitewashed building. While my gaze flickered over the exterior**, **I noticed faint traces of sawdust scattered around the base.

Sue heaved a loud sigh before speaking. "Well now, this here building wasn't mentioned in the paperwork left by the last owners; I'm really not sure what to do about it – the door's locked," she said, scratching her head. "I only toured the grounds yesterday, so I'm a little confused."

Alice bounded forward and lifted the corner of the new-looking mat in front of the door and picked up a key from under it. "They're always in the most obvious places," she smiled back at us as Sue watched with interest. She pushed open the door and within a second had the lights on. She reappeared in the doorway holding a sheet of paper.

"Well I guess they didn't mention it in the paperwork you have cause they left all the instructions right here," Alice said. "It's a shop for the campers - it says it's a new feature the previous owners had in mind before they resigned. It says that the counselors will have tokens," she said, pausing. She reached back inside the building and removed a box containing shiny silver tokens, holding them up for us to see. "And the counselors will award their campers with the tokens however they see fit – for example, good behavior or something. The campers can then cash in their tokens for items within the shop." She glanced up from the sheet. "Seems pretty self-explanatory to me," she said, shrugging.

Edward sighed heavily, turning his head slightly away from the others' view as he rolled his eyes.

"Wait a minute – what about stocking it? Does it say where I'm supposed to get the money to stock the shop?" Sue asked, suddenly concerned that she was completely unprepared.

Alice smiled, glancing over her shoulder to the inside of the building. "Yes, it says that since it was going to be a new feature, the previous owners took the liberty of pre-stocking it for you – there are boxes already here. It says that in the upcoming years you can ask the parents for donations. Oh – hang on," she said, disappearing back inside. A second later she came back out with a sign in her hands that said ' Camp Store ,' and hung it on a nail next to the door. "There – now all we have to do is open all the boxes and sort through them, and we'll be open for business!" Alice said proudly.

"Huh. Well…makes sense to me!" Sue noted, looking a bit dazed. "Maybe a few of you can come back later after orientation and get it sorted?" she asked. Alice nodded eagerly, and Sue slowly began walking away from the unexpected building, shaking her head. She motioned for us to follow to continue with the tour, glancing back at the little shop once curiously.

Edward was smiling knowingly at me and tugged gently on my arm, reminding me how to move. I was speechless; I had been from the moment I'd realized what Alice had done. She had built and fully stocked her own store on the campgrounds…and she'd convinced the person running it that it had been a new idea from the previous owners. Resuming her place on my other side, Alice looked up at me and winked. Amazing.

Finally, we ended the tour back near the mess hall by a giant flagpole. "Well, that should do it. You all are clearly capable of familiarizing yourselves with the bath houses near your cabins, so it should be fairly self explanatory from here. We start every morning at camp with the traditional flag raising, and I expect each and every one of you to have your campers there on time. Oh – and for tonight's dinner, I ordered pizza for all of you, which should arrive shortly. Feel free to help yourselves - it will be delivered to the mess hall. Just to make sure you don't have any issues or last minute questions, I'll be at your campsite tomorrow morning to greet you before the campers arrive."

Those of us that actually eat food looked positively grateful at the mention of pizza, and we all thanked Sue as she turned to head back home for the night.

* * *

Later, as Edward and his other siblings made the illusion of heading off to bed, I turned to Alice in earnest; I'd been recalling our last camping excursion when she'd continually fought for me to stay up all night with her – the words, '_Wake up Bella, it's time to pretend to sleep,'_ echoed in my mind. "Please, Alice . I need to sleep tonight. I'm really nervous about tomorrow, and I need my rest so I'm not negligent." Images of kids falling off cliffs were resurfacing in my mind.

Alice blinked back at me, looking far more acceptable of my request than I anticipated. "Absolutely, Bella - I understand. Get your rest, everything will be fine," she said, smiling encouragingly at me. She probably just wanted to get back to that little building and start arranging whatever was in all those boxes.

"Ok..." I replied, fairly confused. This was incredibly un-Alice like behavior. Still wondering, I turned to Edward, who leaned over and whispered in my ear, "I'll be in the second Newton , Jessica and Angela are all settled."

Nodding and smiling, I made my way back into my cabin. Just as he promised, Edward appeared at my side minutes later and settled in beside me.

Reflecting on the day's events, I remembered something. "Edward? What was Alice so happy about Jasper's cabin for? She looked like she'd won the lottery or something, yet that place looks like it's almost in worse condition than ours," I whispered.

Edward chuckled. "Alice is just adjusting and dealing with the situation Bella, that's all. The inside is a bit roomier than what we have here."

"What possibilities? I don't understand," I replied, already half asleep. I was so tired...

"Bella, have you ever known Alice to react well when she's told she _can't_ do something? Restrictions aren't good for her…it's not of her nature, and can often cause the exact opposite of the desired behavior," Edward murmured.

What the heck did that mean? I would have to give up for now – his cryptic talk was beyond me at this point. Snuggling closer, Edward held me securely as I drifted off into sleep, my mind mulling over all the possible situations the following days would bring.

* * *

I awoke to cold, sweet breath whispering into my ear. "Bella, it's time to wake up, love." This was by far better than any alarm clock I'd ever had.

Hastily, I spun my body around to face Edward's. My hands automatically wound their way through his hair, and I pulled myself closer, when once again, I suddenly remembered a huge difference between us, and immediately longed for my toothbrush.

Edward quickly sensed the change in my demeanor, and knew me so well he didn't have to ask.

"Good morning, Bella. Go, have your human moment. I'll meet you afterwards. I need to make myself presentable as well," he said softly, as he kissed my forehead.

Right. The Cullens didn't need to do any such thing - they were always presentable. The only reason they took showers was to get the dust out of their hair.

Edward hesitated at the door. "Oh, and Bella? Don't be too startled when you come outside, all right?"

What - was I the last one getting ready? Was everyone else already waiting on me? Great. I nodded in response at Edward, and started rushing to collect my things. After gathering my toiletries, I began to make my way to the bathhouse, but I only made it about two feet from my cabin before stopping dead in my tracks. I closed my eyes, shook my head slightly, and hesitantly opened my eyes again. Nothing had changed – it wasn't an illusion.

Nobody was waiting on me - in fact, Edward had woken me up in plenty of time, as it appeared that I was the first one up - or at least outside, considering over half of our staff didn't actually sleep. What he had been trying to prepare me for could only be the work of one certain pixie-vampire, who has endless energy and no time restrictions to affect her work. Yes, this had to be the work of Alice .

All eight cabins surrounding me were now each a different shade of pastel - it looked like a kids' ice cream parlor had thrown up in our campsite. The four cabins on the boys' side were all different shades of sage, yellow, blue and beige. The four cabins on the girls' side were now all sporting brand new coats of paint in tones of pink, apricot, lavender and cream. Even the two bathhouses were coordinated in appropriate tones.

The previous signs on the posts of the cabins which identified each one by a number had also been replaced; now there were intricately hand-painted plaques with our individual names on them in Alice 's easily recognizable script. Unbelievable.

I was still standing in the exact same place, with my jaw hanging open when a rustling in the woods behind me caused me to snap out of my trance and turn around just in time to see an exuberant Alice bounding towards me.

"Bella! Good morning! What do you think of my overnight cabin makeover? I think it's a vast improvement - surely those kids will like this much better! It's just more cheerful - it adds to the spirit of the camp," she trilled while embracing me in a gentle hug.

Still stunned, I was searching for words when Edward appeared at my side. "I think she's in shock, Alice - as surely some of the other residents will be - perhaps the ones that don't fully understand our capabilities?" he hinted, his eyes moving from Jessica and Angela's cabin to Mike's in one fluid glance. "And what do you think Sue will say when she shows up this morning?" he added, raising his eyebrows.

"Oh please, Edward. "You know as well as I do that Sue won't be a problem, so quit being so negative. And I don't need a vision to tell me that our classmates aren't going to be an issue, either** - **the only perceptive one out of the three is Angela, and she's such a good-hearted person she'll only be thinking of how considerate it was of _all of us _to stay up to do this. Actually, she'll probably say that we should have asked her to help," Alice replied, dismissing Edward's concerns with a wave of her tiny hand.

"Well technically it was only you, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett that did it - and he only helped because Rosalie desperately wants the kids to be happy, and because he's incredibly afraid of getting on Rosalie's bad side again," Edward said.

I looked away guiltily, as I knew the only reason Edward hadn't helped was so that he could stay with me all night - at the same time, I couldn't help but be happy about his choice. Besides, with the four of them, the whole painting process had probably taken less than four hours anyway. Regardless, my thoughts and the conversation were quickly interrupted as the other humans in camp began to stir.

Jessica was the first one out on her and Angela's porch. She began making her way to the steps, but as she glanced up and took in all the new bright Easter-like colors, she ran straight into the post that was holding the plaque with their names on it, and it went crashing to the ground from the impact. She yelped in pain, grasping her forehead in her hands.

At the same moment, Mike surfaced from his cabin. He was halfway across the campsite, toothbrush, soap and towel in hand before he bothered to look up from his feet. He instantly froze as if he'd been caught in a helicopter's search light and began spinning around in circles in a slightly crouched position, his eyes wide with incomprehension.

By now, Rosalie and Emmett had also emerged; they most likely heard the commotion and were eager to watch the show. Something moving behind Emmett's cabin caught my attention, and I realized it was Jasper, standing within the trees - apparently this was entertaining for all of them.

As Mike kept spinning and spluttering, and Jessica kept gawking at the new scenery, Angela finally stepped outside having heard Jessica's whimpering. Being the good person she was, she asked Jessica if she was all right, and when Jessica merely pointed a finger outward, Angela lifted her gaze and took in the new campsite.

"Whoa. How did all of this happen?" Angela asked, taking in her surroundings.

Alice stepped forward. "We all thought it would be a nice way to welcome the kids - it's much cheerier this way, don't you think? When I saw all the extra cans of paint in the maintenance storage shed, I thought surely this is what they were for - I guess that other guy just quit before he could get around to doing it. Since there are so many of us and the cabins are fairly small, it didn't take long at all!" she explained, making the whole thing sound completely rational. Edward appeared to be concentrating on Angela, then suddenly turned his back and rolled his eyes.

"Amazing... Alice was right," Edward murmured, just barely loud enough for me to hear.

"_Wow_! You guys - why didn't you ask me to stay up and help out? This is absolutely incredible - the kids will just love it! How thoughtful of all of you!" Angela gushed, looking around at each of the Cullens - and me - in awe.

Somehow, not only had Alice had managed to recruit the other Cullens - aside from Edward - to refinish the exterior of eight cabins overnight, but she had also managed to convince three of our previous classmates that it was entirely possible that we could have managed such a task.

Mike and Jessica listened to Angela and seemed to accept what she was saying; eventually they'd both resumed their trips to the bathhouses and gotten ready. I followed behind, still shaking my head in shock – I don't know why I was so dumbfounded, I should have realized the second I'd seen the bland exterior of the cabins when we'd arrived that they didn't stand a chance against Alice.

About ten minutes later Sue arrived and speechlessly took in the sight before her. She stood staring and blinking for a few minutes as if she was trying to determine whether or not what she was seeing was real, and then cleared her throat awkwardly. "Err…what exactly happened here?" she asked, apparently unable to think of anything else to say.

Alice jumped up, explaining how we had worked through the night, all in order to surprise the campers – she went on about how much more the kids would love the new look of the cabins, and recited a whole speech about how if the kids were happy about such a thing it would only improve the whole spirit of the camp, and in turn would encourage future business. It was all very convincing.

After Alice had finished, Sue slowly nodded her head, processing everything Alice had said. "All right…well that's just fantastic! I guess Chief Swan was right about you kids – you go all out," she chuckled. "Wait – where did you get all that paint?"

Alice merely shrugged. "We found it in the maintenance shed. One of the previous workers must have ordered it and had a project in mind that they never got around to," she said rationally.

"Huh. I guess one of these days I really need to check that place out – I have no idea what's in there," Sue murmured. "Anyway, great job - now let's get you all ready to meet your campers!"

**A/N: The kids will arrive in the next chapter. Please review! Oh, and please vote for CFCT I for Best Comedy (if you feel it deserves to win) at The Silent Tear Awards before September 1st. Thanks! **

http://silent-tear-awards(dot)yolasite(dot)com/


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thanks for reading, please remember to leave a review - they make my day! Here we go - the kids are arriving. **

_(Previously):_

_After Alice had finished explaining about the cabins, Sue slowly nodded her head, processing everything she had said. "All right…well that's just fantastic! I guess Chief Swan was right about you kids – you go all out," she chuckled. "Wait – where did you get all that paint?"_

_Alice merely shrugged. "We found it in the maintenance shed. One of the previous workers must have ordered it and had a project in mind that they never got around to," she said rationally._

_"Huh. I guess one of these days I really need to check that place out – I have no idea what's in there," Sue murmured. "Anyway, great job - now let's get you all ready to meet your campers!"_

**Chapter 5:**

When the first car pulled up, Edward exhaled loudly - it was obviously his first camper. When a sandy-haired kid exited his parents' car, Edward stepped forward, introduced himself, and murmured something that made the boy smile. It must be nice to be able to read minds to know what to say - it sort of seemed like cheating to me.

Other cars continued to arrive, and we all began greeting our campers. Emmett had looked a bit uncertain at first, but when his first kid hopped out of the car and high-fived Emmett, he looked more at ease. After that he enthusiastically greeted every one of his campers the same way.

Alice was steadily circling each of her campers that arrived, periodically kneeling in front of them while whispering something. I couldn't imagine what she was doing, but fortunately it didn't seem to faze any of the little girls, who were all oddly enough sort of bouncing in anticipation.

Edward was trying to split his attention between his newly arrived campers and me, his glance continually sweeping back and forth. When he turned to his group and answered "We'll be leaving for our cabin shortly, and after that we'll be going to lunch. Until then just get to know one another," to an unspoken question, all of his kids looked up at him curiously, then shrugged and began to greet one another.

What was perhaps the most disconcerting was that Rosalie was practically unrecognizable to me. She was amazing...as each of her campers arrived she embraced them lovingly, and made some sort of meaningful comment to them based upon their 'fact sheet' history. Whether she commented about someone's pet cat or someone's favorite color, she was prepared - and happy about it. I could tell immediately that each and every little girl was in complete awe of Rosalie. When one particular little girl arrived – Emma – I noticed Rosalie kept her gaze on her almost continuously. I wondered what her fascination was with the child – she was just like all the rest, except that I remembered hearing something about her being a foster child. Rosalie must have wanted her to feel 'extra special.'

One of Emmett's last kids had arrived, and Emmett approached him and tried to give the kid his token high-five, but the boy wasn't interested, and instead stared down at his feet sniffling. He kicked the gravel stubbornly and then wandered over to a bench off to the side and sat down. Emmett looked confused for a moment, then followed him and leaned over to talk to him.

"What's the matter little dude? Why are you crying?" Emmett asked, distressed.

"I miss my cat, 'Boots.' I've never been away from him, and he won't know where I am," the kid answered, his voice trembling. "There was only so much room in my bag, and I had to fit other things in…"

"Oh…well, maybe he knows your on vacation – didn't you tell him? It'll be all right, man. I don't think it would have been a good idea to bring him with you," Emmett said, his brow furrowed.

"They don't know what we're saying, they don't speak like us. Have you ever had to leave pets behind?" the boy said in response, looking up at Emmett with tear-filled eyes.

Emmett suddenly looked upset. "You know what? I _have_... You make them your friends, then you're forced to get rid of them – it's not right _or_ fair," he said, his voice becoming unstable.

"I kn-kn-kn-oh-oh…." the boy cried. Emmett sat down next to him, dropping his head into his hands.

Jasper, who had been standing off to the side, suddenly crossed over to where they were sitting and sat beside Emmett. He threw his arm around Emmett's shoulders, and likewise buried his head in his hands too. A horrible sense of sadness began to creep over to me when Rosalie snapped her head up and stomped over to the three of them.

"Emmett – knock it off. Jasper – get a grip, would you?" she hissed, and then knelt down in front of the little boy. "Hey sweetheart, don't worry. Your pet will be all the more happy to see you when you get home, ok? Maybe you can get your parents to stop at a store on the way home and pick it up a new toy – I bet it would love that."

The beauty and sincerity of Rosalie pulled the boy from his sadness, and Jasper jumped up and hurriedly moved to the opposite side of camp, looking irritated he'd been drawn into the whole situation to begin with.

As far as my group went, well, I did what I could. I was so nervous that I can't say I did well, but I don't think my campers hated me. I greeted them, feeling somewhat uncomfortable, but still doing my best. Most of my campers seemed fairly shy and quiet, and they looked content that I was similar as they glanced in fear over at Alice, who was still bouncing through her group assessing every detail about them. After thinking about it, maybe Charlie did know what he was doing when he filled out those personality traits on the applications.

Mike was doing all right with his group; his kids seemed pretty happy with him. Angela and Jessica were present, but stood off to the side – they were required to show up for the kids' arrival, but since they weren't counselors, their participation was limited.

I jumped and my mind snapped back to the present as something brushed against my side. I looked down to see one of my campers – Sophie, I believe – shyly glancing up at me. When I met her gaze she hurriedly looked back at her feet, one of her little hands tugging uncertainly at her hair.

"Is there something wrong, Sophie? Did you need something?" I asked. This was going to take some getting used to. Cautiously, she reached up with her tiny hand grasped at my own. Shocked, I stared back at her for a moment before I found the ability to speak again.

"Oh – is that all you wanted?" I asked quietly.

The little girl just nodded her head and kept smiling at me. Is that something kids do? Just hang onto you for no apparent reason? Huh. I mean, it didn't bother me, it was just...new.

"All right, everyone. Now that you've got all your campers, it's time to take them back to your cabins and get them unpacked and settled in. After that, we'll meet up in the Mess Hall at noon for lunch," Sue announced.

Everyone did as they were told and we all made our way back to our cabins, our kids in tow.

It didn't escape my attention that Edward's group was right beside mine so he could remain close by. Halfway down the pathway, I was glad that he was - little Sophie's toe caught on a rock and she began to tip forward. As I was currently still connected to her, I began to stumble as well. Neither of us had the chance to hit the ground before Edward's hands were steadying us, one on each of our backs. From the back of the group I heard Emmett snort in laughter.

Feeling rather foolish, I glanced appreciatively back at Edward, who merely smiled. Then I looked over at Alice - surely she could try to keep a better eye on things knowing my history, and now having all these kids to care for. My irritation went unnoticed though; Alice was completely focused on her kids.

Sophie looked humiliated, and I could certainly sympathize. "Don't you worry about that, Sophie. It happens to me all the time," I whispered, which made her little smile reappear.

Amazingly, the unpacking went without further incident. I allowed the girls to choose their own bunks, and they each unpacked their belongings and I helped when needed.

From what I could tell, I seemed to have a pretty good group. They were getting along fairly well, and mostly just seemed happy to be here. I guess camp was a big deal at their age.

As I sat on the edge of my mattress and allowed the girls to get to know each other, Sophie came shuffling over to me. She looked embarrassed again, but I couldn't imagine why. Before I could ask, she reached out and handed me a folded up note.

Upon opening it I saw that it was from her mother. It read: "Dear Counselor, My Sophie is a bit accident prone...well, that's really somewhat of an understatement. She tends to be quite clumsy, and I'm just writing this to alert you. You may need to take extra precautions with her."

Oh my...well this would be interesting. She was just like me, only smaller, and she was under my care? It would be a miracle if she survived this... I didn't want to concern the poor girl though, so I merely smiled and put the note in my pocket. "That's no problem, Sophie. You'll be just fine. Now why don't you go make some friends?"

"My mommy told me to stay with my counselor at all times. She said I should hang onto you," she replied, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Well, I don't think she meant it so literally...don't worry, I'll be watching you the whole time - go on, make some new friends," I encouraged.

Sophie smiled at me, and nodded. She looked happy at the idea of making new friends, and went to mingle with the others.

I was getting antsy, wondering when it would be time to leave for lunch when a gentle knock at the door alerted me of Edward's presence. He was precisely the reason I was getting antsy - I missed him.

"Bella, my group is just outside - I thought perhaps you could bring your group out too and they could all get to know each other," he said, grinning crookedly at me. He must have been feeling anxious from being away from me, too.

I agreed, and quickly led my girls outside where they still talked among themselves - they didn't seem to want to have much to do with Edward's group, and vice-versa. It didn't bother us though - at least we could still spend time together.

"So how are you handling things so far, Bella?" Edward asked as we sat on the benches that were cut from logs, both of us keeping one eye on our kids.

"Well, it seems as though I have a bit of a clumsy camper on my hands...that should be interesting," I replied, glancing back at Sophie.

"Yes, I noticed that as well...perhaps we could have Alice or Rosalie switch one of their girls with Sophie? I do worry about the times when I'm not able to be around you..." Edward trailed off, his gaze resting apprehensively on Sophie.

"Absolutely not! Sophie is not going to be taken out of my group - first of all, the poor girl would wonder why she was being moved to someone else's group, and she already seems insecure as it is. Second of all, I can handle it - I'll just have to be extra careful around her," I huffed in defiance. It was one thing when I was questioning my ability to care for the girl, but when the possibility of Sophie leaving my group came up, I suddenly felt defensive. I knew what it felt like to not really fit in, and I couldn't help but feel a bit protective of her even though I knew perfectly well that Edward was merely worried about our safety.

Edward didn't look convinced, but knew better than to argue with me when I was like this. Instead, he pursed his lips as he studied Sophie, most likely trying to come up with some sort of plan to protect both of us.

**A/N: Please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks for reading, and thanks for the awesome reviews - keep them coming please!**

_(Previously):_

_"So how are you handling things so far, Bella?" Edward asked as we sat on the benches that were cut from logs, both of us keeping one eye on our kids._

_"Well, it seems as though I have a bit of a clumsy camper on my hands...that should be interesting," I replied, glancing back at Sophie._

_"Yes, I noticed that as well...perhaps we could have Alice or Rosalie switch one of their girls with Sophie? I do worry about the times when I'm not able to be around you..." Edward trailed off, his gaze resting apprehensively on Sophie._

_"Absolutely not! Sophie is not going to be taken out of my group - first of all, the poor girl would wonder why she was being moved to someone else's group, and she already seems insecure as it is. Second of all, I can handle it - I'll just have to be extra careful around her," I huffed in defiance. It was one thing when I was questioning my ability to care for the girl, but when the possibility of Sophie leaving my group came up, I suddenly felt defensive. I knew what it felt like to not really fit in, and I couldn't help but feel a bit protective of her even though I knew perfectly well that Edward was merely worried about our safety._

_Edward didn't look convinced, but knew better than to argue with me when I was like this. Instead, he pursed his lips as he studied Sophie, most likely trying to come up with some sort of plan to protect both of us._

**Chapter 6:**

Moments later all the other groups started making their way out of their cabins, and mingled in with the rest of us. Alice found us immediately, and bounced her way in our direction.

"So Bella, how is everything going for you so far?" she asked excitedly.

"Ok I guess - but I could have used your help earlier when I almost did a face-plant along with one of my kids," I replied, still a little bitter about that particular moment.

Guilt momentarily swept across Alice 's features. "Sorry about that, Bella. I was just so distracted - my group is just so fascinating – it's a lot to take in!" she said, drifting off as her gaze returned to her campers.

"What exactly is so fascinating about them Alice ? You've only known them for an hour or so," I replied, trying to understand what she meant.

"Well, for starters, they're really quite stylish children, you know – did you see some of the outfits they showed up in? There were some decent labels involved there – it seems maybe some of their parents actually know what they're doing," Alice murmured, becoming distracted again as she watched her group. "We seem to have so much in common already," she added, almost to herself.

I shook my head; somehow I doubted that I would ever understand the way Alice 's mind works. I did have to admit though, that as much as much as I'd been irritated at her lack of attention to me moments ago, suddenly things looked much different to me – these kids might actually be a buffer zone for Alice 's overenthusiastic behavior towards me.

Emmett was still over with his group. One of the boys was animatedly saying something to him, and Emmett's expression was one of bemusement. He shook his head, then gently patted the kid on the top of his head before heading over to us.

"These kids are hilarious. One of them was just trying to convince me there's a "Great Forest Fairy" in the woods. He said his big brother who'd been a camper here once told him about it - apparently, if you leave offerings for it, it will reward you or something. He's pretty serious about it, poor guy," Emmett chuckled, glancing back over at his group.

"Yes, he is..." Edward murmured in assent, his gaze also fixed on Emmett's group. "You'll have to talk some sense into him," he added, shaking his head as if bewildered by the kid's thoughts.

Our conversation was cut short as we noticed it was time for everyone to leave for the mess hall for lunch.

*********************************

As we filed into the mess hall, we directed the kids over to the cafeteria counter, where they all began forming a line and the rest of us followed behind. It was sort of comforting to see Esme behind the counter, happily serving delicious-looking food to the campers. At least we knew that she and Carlisle had arrived, although I still hadn't seen him yet.

All the kids sat where they chose, and Edward, Alice , Rosalie, Emmett and I settled in at our own table. Mike and Jessica sat at the table next to ours, but clearly didn't want to sit with us, which seemed to satisfy Edward. Angela decided upon the end of their table, which sort of put her in the middle of the group – she was able to talk to us as well as Mike and Jessica without appearing to be rude to anyone. Angela greeted me warmly and expressed how inspirational and selfless Edward and I were to volunteer to be counselors with just weeks to go before our wedding – if she only knew. Jasper showed up at the last minute and didn't even bother with the pretense of getting a tray of food – instead, he just settled in next to Alice, who immediately lit up upon seeing him.

We were about halfway through our meal - and the rest of the Cullens were halfway through faking theirs - when the door opened, and Sue tromped into the building and headed for the podium up front. After tapping the microphone to be sure it was working, she cleared her throat, and waited for everyone to quiet down.

"Once again, welcome campers. I'm sure by now you've gotten to know your counselors a bit, and hopefully everyone is happy. Anyway, your counselors each have an itinerary which they can come up and collect from me shortly. You will all participate in one activity per day, and two cabins will be paired together for each activity. You will also have some free time to get to know your new friends better, or to do whatever you wish - as long as you're supervised by a counselor. After dinner, you'll all return to the campsite, where you'll be allowed to have nightly campfires and s'mores - and counselors, be sure to clean up afterwards, as we don't want any kind of...unwanted visitors attracted by food." She paused again as she heard a loud snort coming from our table. She was unable to locate the responsible party, but we all knew who it was - Emmett. Surely he was remembering the incident when I'd left the s'mores out and he'd gotten a bear for a midnight snack of his own. Great.

"The daily schedules will allow for some flexibility; I'm assigning Tuesday and Thursday as entirely free days, so you can let your counselors know what you'd like to do and they will make the final decision. Also, as some of you return campers know, the previous camp owners liked to change everything when the weekend came around since it's the last couple days of camp, and I'd like to keep that tradition. Saturday morning starts with an awards ceremony to recognize the top performers or most creative campers in each activity. The rest of the morning will be spent doing something you all choose – it's usually a competition or game of sorts. There's a suggestion box outside the mess hall, and you're welcome to submit ideas there. I'll announce what the choice will be on Wednesday at dinner time. Saturday afternoon will be when we hold the annual carnival, which you'll learn more about later on. All I ask for now is that the counselors submit a suggestion for what station they'd like to be in charge of for it," Sue added.

Well that would be an interesting twist. Glancing around, I could see I wasn't alone in my thinking. Alice was practically bouncing in her seat, clearly excited about something, and Emmett was suddenly paying extremely close attention while casting curious glances back at his kids as if he were sizing them up. I also couldn't help but notice Edward's expression - he looked smug. I didn't have to look far to see whose thoughts he was listening to - Mike was practically glaring at Edward. I'd definitely have to ask about that later, but before I could put much more thought into it, Sue began speaking again.

"Now, for those of you returning campers, this year we have a guest physician who will be standing if for Nurse Bradley. I'd like you all to give a warm welcome to Dr. Cullen, who will be more than happy to take care of any medical problems you may have," Sue said, motioning to the corner of the room, where Carlisle stood up so the kids could see him. When the heck did he come in? Had he been here the whole time, watching us? As the kids clapped for him, he smiled warmly, and discreetly glanced over at our table, most likely making sure I was still in one piece.

"One more thing, campers - while you're here, your counselors are your utmost authority figures. I'm not around much, so pay strict attention to what they say. I'll be checking back on Wednesday to collect the entries in the suggestion box, so be sure to get your ideas in by then. Oh - and don't forget to pay a visit to the Great Forest Fairy for extra luck!" Sue said, winking at her audience.

A sudden splash of water on my wrist made me jump, and I looked around for the guilty party. Emmett had dropped the bottle of water he'd been pretending to drink from, and was staring back and forth between Sue and the kid who'd told him about the Great Forest Fairy, as if trying to figure something out.

Rolling his eyes, Edward quickly leaned over and wiped up the mess with a few napkins. "Unbelievable...he's starting to think it's real," he muttered under his breath.

"Well, that's all I have for now – go out there and have a great first day here at Camp Catawba ! Sue finished enthusiastically as she stepped down from the podium.

Assuming that was our cue, the other counselors and I got up to go receive our itineraries.

The rest of the lunch hour was spent looking over our new schedules. I couldn't help but be a bit nervous as I glanced down at this afternoon's activity for my group...archery. I still couldn't believe that was an option here - weren't these kids too young for that?

Looking up from my sheet, I noticed Edward was gone. As I scanned the room for him, I noticed him talking to Emmett - rather heatedly - in the back corner of the room. What on earth was the problem? I turned my attention to Alice, who merely waved her hand at me as she shook her head - apparently it was nothing to worry about.

It was time to make our way to our activities, so there was no point in stalling. I gathered my group and told them to wait while I went to say goodbye to Edward. After looking for him, I found him in another serious-looking conversation with Alice . When I got closer to them, they broke off their conversation and turned to me.

"Edward, I just wanted to say goodbye - I'm getting ready to take my group to Archery lessons. It's a good thing the counselors don't have to participate, isn't it?" I laughed, nervously biting my bottom lip. "I hope my group doesn't mind me not trying it."

Edward moved forward and placed both his hands securely on either of my arms. "Bella…I'm sure they won't mind, they'll most likely just be excited to try it themselves. Don't worry."

"Oh - good," I murmured. Then I remembered Edward's odd behavior. "What's going on - what happened with Emmett earlier? Why were you and Alice having some kind of secret conversation?" I asked suspiciously. "And what was with the look Mike was giving you?"

Guilt flashed across Edward's features. "I'm sorry, Bella. It's just that I noticed Emmett's group was assigned to go to Archery with yours, and I was trying to get him to switch - it's not like Sue would ever know, she's gone home. I'd rather be with you, so I can keep a closer eye on you - I mean it _is_ Archery..." he said, his gaze shifting to the floor.

He went on to explain that Emmett had refused his request; apparently, Emmett had been thrilled to learn that he had Archery as his group's activity for the afternoon - even more thrilled when he'd learned my group would be involved. Surely he was looking forward to whatever catastrophe I would cause. Little did he know, I wasn't going anywhere near the bows and arrows - it was entirely too risky with children around. Sue had explained the day before that it was set up for young children – the arrows had plastic safety tips on them, and the bows were smaller, but I could only imagine that even with the tips, those arrows would hurt quite a bit if they hit someone.

Edward also explained that he'd been going over the future repeatedly with Alice since Emmett refused to cooperate, just to be safe. She hadn't seen anything, so I suppose that was good, although I remembered all too well how 'last minute decisions' could change everything.

"As far as Newton …well he was just thinking how he'd love to finally beat me at something, and was wondering how he'd get the chance – what he could put in the suggestion box that would put the odds in his team's favor on Saturday. I was merely thinking how ridiculous he was being – he could never beat me at anything," Edward chuckled confidently. I just shook my head and reluctantly gave his had a quick squeeze before leaving – kids were everywhere, and I didn't think it would go over very well if I jumped into his arms and kissed him goodbye.

Ten minutes later my group was gathered at the Archery course waiting. Emmett and his group arrived shortly after as well as the instructor. This was one of the few activities that they actually brought an instructor in for - most everything else would just be supervised by the counselors or volunteers. The woman's name was Jill, and she greeted all of us enthusiastically, her gaze resting on Emmett a second too long - good thing Rosalie wasn't around.

Emmett's group went first, and Emmett himself was incredibly eager to participate. He let the kids go first, and then when they were finally done he stepped up and one after the other effortlessly sent ten arrows flying straight into the bull's-eye. His campers stood gaping in awe at him, their mouths literally hanging open, until they all started cheering madly for him. Even the instructor was at a loss for words.

As my group began to take their turns, I encouraged them while standing at a slight distance - I refused to test fate any more than necessary. Emmett was standing off to the side, looking slightly bored now - he was hoping I had planned on participating of course, and was disappointed with my decision. His campers were off in the adjacent grassy area, all talking about their super-awesome counselor, who they believed could hit a target with his eyes closed. They were probably right.

Most of my kids were done, and as the last few moved forward in line, I noticed that little Sophie was among them. I could only hope things went all right for her - I remembered how I felt growing up with people always making fun of my clumsiness, and I'd hate for her to have to go through that too.

Glancing at her watch, the instructor asked if we would mind tending to the last few kids ourselves. She had an important phone call to make, and she'd already delayed it by ten minutes. There were only a few kids left so Emmett and I nodded in understanding, and she smiled gratefully as she mentioned to just leave the equipment behind the target for Wednesday's lesson before leaving.

I stepped closer to the shooting area; I figured I'd better make sure no one needed any help, since Jill was gone. Not that I knew what I was doing, but I could at least try. Given my close proximity to the arrows, Emmett immediately began to pay closer attention. Despite his odd behavior at times, he really would make a good brother-in-law.

Finally it was Sophie's turn. She carefully picked up the small bow, and tried to secure the arrow. Surprisingly, she did fairly well, and was ready to take her first shot, but she suddenly hesitated.

"What's wrong Sophie? You're all ready, go ahead and try it," I encouraged, smiling at her. My words seemed to make her more confident, and she focused her attention back on the target. Just as she was about to release the arrow, I felt a piercing pain on the back of my leg.

"OW!" I yelped loudly, smacking away the annoying culprit - a bee.

The next thing I heard was Sophie gasp; my outburst had frightened her, and as she was releasing the arrow, she had suddenly begun to turn towards me to see what was wrong, causing her arrow to change course - drastically. Instead of shooting towards the target, she had accidentally shot right at Emmett - and hit him directly in the upper arm.

Both groups were completely silent, all staring, mouths hanging open again. Emmett was looking at Sophie as if amused, not realizing at all that the impact should have hurt quite a bit. Quickly taking in the situation, I cleared my throat.

"_Wow_ - Emmett, are you ok? That had to have _really_ hurt - even with the safety tips, these arrows would still cause quite a bit of pain." Emmett met my gaze, blinked a couple times, then caught on.

"Argh! My arm! Those things are sharp even _with_ the safety tips!" His opposite arm shot up to cover the point of impact, holding it as if he were in pain.

One of his campers cautiously moved toward Emmett and slowly picked up the arrow - which was now bent at a very odd angle - and held it up for the other kids to see.

"Well...those things are just made poorly, that's all. It harmed me more than I harmed it," Emmett muttered, glancing back towards me for help.

"Yes, I'd say so - you'd better see Dr. Cullen just to be sure you're all right," I continued.

Just then, Edward and his group appeared on the path behind us, most likely on their way back to camp having finished their activity. Edward leaned down and said something to his kids, who all nodded in response and wandered over to Emmett's campers.

"What exactly happened here?" Edward asked as he approached the Archery area. He was keeping up pretenses - obviously he already knew what happened - I was sure he'd listened to Emmett's thoughts. Sophie and a couple other girls were still standing with us though, so he had to appear confused. It didn't escape me that his gaze shifted to the back of my leg where I'd been stung, and for a moment irritation washed over his features.

"Just an accident - Bella frightened the girl and she lost her focus - I'll be all right, after some medical attention," Emmett replied, cringing as he patted his 'wounded' area.

I leaned over to Sophie, who was still looking rather shocked. "Sophie, why don't you and your friends go join all the other kids - there's nothing to worry about - it was an accident, and I'm sorry for scaring you, ok?" I grinned.

Sophie smiled and looked relieved. She and the other girls went to join the rest of their friends near Emmett and Edward's groups.

Edward sighed. "You can knock it off now Emmett. Bella, love - are you all right? That welt on your leg is swelling quite a bit. You should probably go see Carlisle ," he added, concerned.

"I'll be fine, Edward. It's really nobody's fault – it was just an accident. Not even Alice could have seen that coming," I added, trying to lighten his mood as I scratched at the new sore on my leg. It was true – it's not like I had decided to be stung – and as far as my reaction to it, well – who could blame me?

Edward's expression didn't change. "I know, Bella, I just worry…and I really do think it's necessary for you to go to Carlisle . He'll surely have some ointment that will help with the irritation."

"I'll take her. I'm supposed to be heading in that direction anyway – you know, for my 'wound,'" Emmett smirked, still clutching his arm.

Edward glared at him for a moment before turning back to me. "I'd much rather if I accompanied you, but someone has to get all the kids back to camp, and since Emmett here is apparently in need of a physician's care, he'll have to take you, Bella," he said regrettably.

"Its fine, Edward. Take the kids, and I'll catch up with you later, ok?" I smiled at him, still trying to make him realize everything was really all right.

He gave me a small grin before squeezing my hand lightly, and then turned to tend to all our campers.

As the kids and Edward disappeared over the hill headed back to camp, Emmett linked his arm through mine. "C'mon, Bella – off to see Carlisle – just like old times!" he laughed.

I swayed slightly as I blinked to clear my vision; everything looked slightly blurry for a second. Emmett looked curiously at me, probably hoping I'd fall over or something stupid. "Yeah, yeah Emmett, let's go," I said, and just as I was about to move forward with him, my legs buckled beneath me.

Instead of hearing the laughter I was expecting, Emmett caught me before I hit the ground and threw me over his shoulder, swiftly running in the direction of Carlisle 's office. My mind was fading in and out, and my hands and feet were tingling.

I was only slightly aware when Emmett charged through the door to Carlisle 's office and gently laid me down on the cold examination table. He was speaking to Carlisle , saying something about a bee sting.

Suddenly Carlisle 's face peered directly into mine. "Bella – are you allergic to bees?" he asked loudly, as if I were deaf.

"I don't know," I managed to get out before erupting into a tremendous fit of coughing; I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. I'd never been stung before, so how would I know if I was allergic?

He disappeared for a moment, but was back quickly with a giant sized syringe in his hands. The last thing I saw was the huge needle as he lowered it to my skin – then the room went black.

**A/N: I really want to get the number of reviews up for this story, so if you are reading, please take a moment to leave a note - thanks!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for the delay everyone, I've been trying to upload this chapter for the past couple days, and it finally worked today - there must have been a glitch in the system. Anyway, thanks so much for all the reviews! Please keep them coming. :)**

_(Previously):_

_I was only slightly aware when Emmett charged through the door to Carlisle 's office and gently laid me down on the cold examination table. He was speaking to Carlisle , saying something about a bee sting._

_Suddenly Carlisle's face peered directly into mine. "Bella – are you allergic to bees?" he asked loudly, as if I were deaf._

_"I don't know," I managed to get out before erupting into a tremendous fit of coughing; I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. I'd never been stung before, so how would I know if I was allergic?_

_He disappeared for a moment, but was back quickly with a giant sized syringe in his hands. The last thing I saw was the huge needle as he lowered it to my skin – then the room went black._

**Chapter 7:**

When I awoke I was lying on a couch that I didn't recognize. I started to sit up when cold fingertips gently pressed me back down.

"You're all right Bella," Carlisle said quietly. "You're still in my office – well, the living quarters of it anyway. You had an allergic reaction to your bee sting. I'm sorry about that shot – the mere sight of the needle made you pass out, but you needed the epinephrine to get into your system to counteract the poison from the sting. Haven't you ever been stung before?"

I shook my head in response. "No…hard to believe, isn't it?" I muttered. "Thanks for helping me," I added appreciatively. "Where's Emmett? I should thank him for getting me here." I glanced around, but didn't see him anywhere. As my senses became more focused I noticed a pungent stench in the air. Ugh…what was that smell?

"After he was sure you'd be all right he went to see what Jasper was up to," Carlisle said, smiling warmly at me. I continued to look around the room – something definitely smelt bad, but Carlisle didn't seem to notice it. How could he _not_ notice it – it was almost overwhelming.

"Carlisle …what is that smell?" I asked, unable to help myself.

"Ah. Well, after I gave you the shot, I used some other treatments on your sting to help prevent irritation and itching," he began. I glanced down at my leg, twisting it slightly to get a better look at the bandage wrapped around it. Was that a slice of onion sticking out of the top of the gauze? What was that slimy mess oozing out of it?

"I thought it best to be a bit overcautious…" he continued. "I applied some apple cider vinegar to help prevent the spreading of the poison. Then I added some Aloe Vera gel to help soothe the pain, as well as some egg – that's to help with the swelling…and finally the onion slice, which is to help with extracting the toxins and help with healing."

Stunned, I just continued to stare down at my leg. "Don't worry Bella – you only need to keep it on there for a couple of hours," he said, as if sensing my apprehension. A couple of hours? I glanced at the clock on the wall – it was almost time for dinner. Great.

When I left Carlisle's office, I went directly to the mess hall – I was sure Edward would get my kids to dinner for me, and I was also wondering exactly how much he'd heard about my predicament; I'd been amazed that he hadn't tore the door of the office off it's hinges and stormed in before I'd left – maybe he was making progress in the 'trying not to overreact' category after all. Upon entering, I looked around but didn't see him or my group yet, so I headed directly for the food line - I was starving. As I was waiting my turn, a sudden eruption of cheers caught my attention.

"Emmett, Emmett, Emmett!!" the kids chanted. Emmett had just come in the door, and all of his campers were on their feet, cheering wildly for him - apparently he had some major fans. He was loving it, and paused in his steps grinning hugely.

"Worry not, young campers - the mighty arrow will not defeat me!" he roared, flexing his muscles as he spoke, showing off his absurdly overly-bandaged arm; surely that was his own doing, I couldn't imagine Carlisle going to such extremes for a nonexistent injury. This only caused even more kids to join in the cheering.

Shaking my head, I turned to focus my attention back on the food I was picking up – but not before I caught sight of the look of adoration Rosalie threw her husband from her place in line - clearly all he had to do to stay on her good side was to get along with the kids. The fact that his campers loved him was truly earning him some serious bonus points with her.

After collecting my food, I went to a table in the corner hoping to avoid any further attention due to my…situation.

"Go on everyone, get in line," Edward's musical voice immediately caught my attention. Looking up from my tray I noticed he had just entered the mess hall with both of our groups. Although his words were for the kids, his eyes were fixated on me; the intensity of his stare made me blush in embarrassment. He hurried in my direction.

"Bella, what happened? You were in Carlisle's office for a while, and I couldn't leave to check on you – I had to watch the kids. Emmett never came back, and Alice said you'd had an allergic reaction but you were all right - if not for her vision and reassurance I would have lost my mind with worry - as it was, I was incredibly close to leaving all the kids in Jessica's care so I could come check on you," his words rushed out in exasperation. Obviously he'd been sick with concern, and so much for not overreacting - if he'd been considering leaving that many kids in Jessica's care he clearly hadn't been thinking straight.

I explained what had happened, including the gross assortment of items Carlisle had strapped to my leg while I was unconscious. As he listened, he ran his hands over his face in frustration, and I did my best to reassure him I was fine. I showed him the new "allergy alert" bracelet and my emergency epinephrine shot Carlisle had given me to carry at all times, explaining that if I were stung again, the shot could be administered immediately – by someone else of course – I could barely look at the thing without getting faint again.

When Alice and Rosalie settled in at our table they were nice enough not to comment on the smell I was positive they picked up coming from me. Jasper, Esme and Carlisle were just as courteous, sliding into their seats without comment other than asking how I was feeling. Thankfully Mike, Jessica and Angela all sat together much the same as they had earlier that day; I liked Angela a lot, but I would have felt horrible if any of them would have had to fight off retching while they struggled to eat.

As Emmett approached, the huge grin on his face faltered the closer he got. Edward shot him a warning glare, and Emmett bit his lip, clearly struggling to hold his words back. He sat down, sneaking peeks at me out of the corner of his eyes every few seconds.

Finally I sighed. "What, Emmett? I know you're dying to say something, so just say it and get it over with."

Edward was glaring at Emmett, but he ignored him. "It's nothing really – I just think you're maybe getting a bit of an ego though, Bella. Isn't it enough that you're always tempting vampires to drink your blood? Now you're trying to appeal to humans as food too by walking around with some sort of weird buffet stuck on yourself?" he whispered, glancing down at his tray as he fought to keep the grin off his face.

Something made contact with him under the table and he jerked his head up, glaring at Edward. I just ignored him and finished my food, wishing the day would come to an end already.

Clearing his throat Carlisle glanced around the table, his gaze resting on Alice . "Now…what's this I hear about some new camp store? Would anyone care to explain that? The owner may buy the haphazard explanation about its origins, but I have my doubts," he said warily.

Alice blinked at him across the table. "Why are you looking at me? I think it's a lovely idea, and very considerate of –"

"Alice . I'm asking for honesty here," Carlisle interrupted. "I've been in the building, and I've seen the boxes of kids' designer clothes, accessories, and about a million other miscellaneous items. Nobody in their right mind would purchase or donate any of those things to a kids' summer camp, especially not the last owners who found simplicity to be so important."

"What exactly are you saying about my mental state? Are you saying there's something wrong with me?" Alice retorted, staring back at her father steadily.

"Are you admitting to breaking the rules and going behind my back to get your way?" Carlisle answered with his own question, folding his hands in his lap as he leaned forward. His look was becoming sterner by the second.

"What rule did I break? There's not one piece of technology for kids in that building. And I didn't pack any of that stuff – it arrived by other means," Alice huffed back.

My head was getting dizzy; watching this heated exchange was like watching a ping pong match – back and forth, back and forth. The others remained quiet, knowing by now to stay out of it.

Carlisle leaned back in his chair, frustrated. He swept his hands over his face as he sighed. "Alice, you know better – and you know what I meant by the rules. While I appreciate that you have a relentless spirit, I wish you would have appreciated that perhaps a week without everything we ever wanted would be good for us, too. Perhaps when this is over I should look into enrolling you in law school – your impeccable ability to find loopholes in things would be well put to use there."

Alice shrugged. "It was Bella's idea," she murmured, playing with the food in front of her.

_What_!? "Alice!" I hissed, my face turning crimson. She blinked innocently at me while Carlisle quietly reassured me that he knew better and not to worry – I'd been through enough that day.

After dinner was over we all rounded our kids up and headed back to camp, where the kids were free to do what they wanted. Most of them gathered together with the friends they'd made and went about either playing games or talking, either inside the cabins or in the surrounding grassy areas. After checking to see if any of my kids needed anything, I went to the bathhouse and removed my bandages and cleaned my leg off. When I was done I made my way over to the large campfire pit that was in the middle of all the cabins where the other counselors were, and discarded my wrappings with onion and all into the pit where they would burn when the fire was lit. Mike and Jessica were sitting somewhat off to the side looking a bit uncomfortable, while the Cullens were all lounging comfortably on the large benches that were carved out of logs. Even Jasper had followed us back after dinner.

"So what's the plan for tonight?" Emmett asked.

"Well, according to schedule, we're supposed to have story time and s'mores at dusk, then we put the kids to bed," Rosalie answered automatically. Clearly she had the entire scheduled memorized.

As Emmett's eyes began to gleam in anticipation, Edward began to speak before Emmett could say a word.

"Emmett, you do realize this will be...nothing like when we were camping, right? There are children involved...which means no scary stories. Also, we'll all be more than meticulous in cleaning up after snack time - we wouldn't want to attract any unwelcome visitors, would we now?" he finished, glancing discreetly over in Mike, Jessica and Angela's direction. He was watching his words, but the point was clear - no mass-murderer stories, no bears at the campsite...

I had to turn my head to keep from laughing.

"What's so different when you all go camping?" Mike asked suspiciously while rolling his eyes at Jessica, who snickered back.

"Why don't you stay up after the kiddies are in bed and find out, huh Newton?" Emmett sneered back, grinning devilishlyat him, causing Mike to lean a bit further back in his seat.

"Anyway, we should probably get started on building the fire," Alice interrupted, hopping up from her seat. "The guys can handle that, and the girls will set the ingredients up on the picnic table. Esme sent everything we'll need with Jasper," she added, motioning towards the bag Jasper had set out.

After the fire was built and the snack ingredients set out for later, everyone settled in for story time. Earlier that day, I'd talked to Edward about an idea I had for the kids' first nightly campfire. It was a mild ghost story with props – I'd gone to a birthday party as a little kid and they'd done it there and everyone had loved it. Basically, you get items from the kitchen and put them in containers and pass them around to the kids to feel while telling – they can't see because of the dark - and they write down their guesses to as what is really in them. It was usually told on Halloween, but I didn't see why that should matter.

I'd compiled the list of items needed for the story and asked Angela to gather them from the kitchen. Emmett had insisted on being the narrator, so she had delivered everything to him, and once it was dark enough he stood up to begin the story. The kids sat on one side of the giant fire pit in rows and the counselors sat on the other side, ready for him to begin.

"Once in this town there lived a man named Ol' Hal. T'was years ago, on this very night that he was murdered out of spite. They say these are his remains," Emmett began, reaching behind him for the table where he'd organized the containers of food Angela had brought him. He passed the first one to the kids.

"Here is his brain, which now feels no pain," he said, waiting for the kids to write their guesses down. There were a few, "Eewww, gross!" comments made among the campers as they felt the contents. When the final kid passed the cup over to the counselors' side, we all played along and felt the contents of the cup – which I knew to be stewed tomatoes.

The second cup began its journey among the crowd. "Here are his eyes, still swollen with surprise," Emmett declared, his voice haunting. I remembered this one well – two peeled grapes. It had grossed me out when I was younger.

"Here is his heart. Be careful lest it start!" Emmett continued. The uncooked piece of liver got an especially negative response from the kids.

"Now we have his hair, which once was so fair!" This was definitely the corn silks.

"Feel these drops of his blood. All the rest turned to mud," Emmett added somberly. He really enjoyed this stuff. I was wondering if the thinned ketchup had been a good idea as I watched quite a few kids wiping their hands off on their shirts.

"One hand all alone, just rotting flesh and bone." This was the latex glove filled with red Jell-O – the one item that didn't fit into a cup.

"Here is his ear, nevermore will he hear!" Emmett chanted as we all touched the dried apricot. **  
**

"This is his nose, now never to smell a rose." This was another gross one – a piece of soft chicken bone with gristle. I had to give Angela credit for going all out with it by making sure it had the bit of gristle still attached.

"These worms are all that's left to feel. For them Ol' Hal was a lovely meal!" Emmett concluded, his eyes gleaming in the night. I chuckled at the wild response from the kids as they passed the bowl over to me; this one had seemingly freaked them out the most, which I couldn't understand – the liver was way grosser than cold, cooked spaghetti noodles. Shaking my head I plunged my hand into the bowl and played my part, widening my eyes for extra effect. That was about when I realized something was really weird about the spaghetti. They must have overcooked it or something – it was mushier than it should have been.

Suddenly Edward grabbed the bowl from my hands and shoved it at Rosalie, completely skipping his turn. Rosalie wasn't paying attention; she was watching her campers eagerly to see their reaction when she put her hand in the bowl. A second later she quickly pulled her hand back out of the bowl and threw it at Emmett, without bothering to pass it to the other counselors. Emmett caught it easily and set it behind him, ignoring the death glare his wife was sending him. The kids looked confused, as did the other counselors.

"That's all the time we have, so pass you're papers in and we'll see who had the most right," Edward said before anyone could question what had just happened. "While a couple of us count the results, the rest of the counselors will help you with your snack."

I followed Edward to the table where Rosalie was hissing at Emmett. "What the hell was that about, Emmett? Why would you put those in there – given that all the other items in those containers were human food items, I can't help but assume you had something to do with it."

Confused, I glanced down at the half empty bowl she'd thrown at him seconds ago. Why was everyone so upset about cooked noodles? As I squinted in the darkness, I noticed the contents were moving slightly… Suddenly I understood Rosalie's anger. The bowl had been filled with real worms – Emmett had replaced the pasta with the worms, which meant minutes ago I'd had my hand in there, squishing around them – ugh! Completely freaked out, I began running for the bathhouse to scrub my worm-juiced hand.

As I was finishing up, I turned and practically ran into Alice, who had followed me. "Are you all right Bella?" she asked.

"Fine – just grossed out. Emmett can be such an idiot," I muttered quietly. At least none of the kids had caught on – sure the boys may not have cared, but I could picture a whole crowd of crying little girls easily enough. "Why didn't you see anything about the worms and stop him?" I couldn't help but ask this – I realized her visions were enigmatic, but still – a little help would have been nice.

"Well, I realized they were worms, but I didn't think it was something to worry about, Bella. I hadn't seen the list, and well – when I saw the other items in my vision I thought all of it was equally strange to be honest. I mean, why would you want to put your hand in a bowl of liver or chicken skin? Worms seemed equally gross, so I just assumed it was part of your bizarre story," Alice explained easily, as if it was all perfectly clear to her.

I sighed at her odd explanation and huffed back outside, still feeling as if I should turn around and wash my hands again. Edward was waiting outside the little building for me.

"I'm sorry I didn't stop the whole mess sooner, Bella. Emmett was concentrating so hard on remembering the story that his thoughts consisted only of the lines he would be reciting. It wasn't until you had your hands in that bowl that I noticed something was off – I could smell the...well, anyway, I could smell that you didn't have your hands in pasta, let's put it that way," he finished, looking apologetic. In other words, let's not discuss the worm guts he could smell as I squished them in my hands.

I couldn't wait for the night to be over, and thankfully back at the fire Mike had taken the liberty of counting the children's guesses and picked out the winners. Emmett was nowhere to be seen now, and I couldn't help but hope he was hiding in fear of Rosalie.

**A/N: Please take a moment to leave a review - thanks! :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone! I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow - YAY - so I won't be adding anything for a little over a week - hope everyone understands, but lying on the beach sounds a lot more important to me...lol. Anyway, here's another chapter for you to read before I go! **

**Chapter 8:**

After all the kids were in bed, I stepped out onto the porch of my cabin in hopes of seeing Edward before I turned in for bed. Never one to let me down, he met me at the top step before I could barely manage to quietly shut the screen door.

"Hi," I whispered.

His hand swept up and brushed a stray piece of hair from my cheek. "It will be very difficult to be away from you tonight, Bella," he whispered in response. "I'll be watching over you, even if from a distance, so sleep well and don't worry about anything. Know that my heart is with you, even when I am not," he added quietly.

His thoughtful words had me breathless, and I leaned forward to embrace him, but instead started to stumble slightly - I'd caught my slipper on a splinter of wood from the porch floor.

Chuckling, Edward steadied me and kissed the top of my head lightly. Not satisfied, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him more enthusiastically, and while at first he didn't seem to object, after a moment he gently pushed me back from him. I was irritated at first, until I heard the giggling behind me. Crap.

"They're at the door watching, aren't they?" I whispered, refusing to turn around. Edward merely nodded, as he fought to keep a smile off of his face.

"What's so funny? It's embarrassing!" I hissed, my face five shades of red.

"I'm sorry, Bella. It's just that some of them are thinking that even though there's a good chance I just gave you Cooties, they approve of us together," Edward whispered back in my ear.

Still grumbling about the humiliation, I quickly said goodnight and turned to face the consequences. Before they could start, I ordered everyone to bed with a note of authority in my voice, which seemed to work well enough.

I was nearly settled in bed when the whispering began. I pulled my pillow on top of my head to block out the giggles and murmurings of "_Bella and Edward sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g……._" I could only help fatigue would return to their little bodies quickly.

Finally, after a while, everyone was sleeping. Exhausted, I rolled over and eagerly waited for sleep to come to me next. I had no idea what the vampires would be doing with their night, but obviously they couldn't go far - they had to remain close because of their campers, so surely they wouldn't be up to anything too ridiculous...at least that was what I told myself as I drifted off.

*THUD*

"Argh!"

What was that?! I sat straight up in my bed, glancing all around. Nothing seemed to be amiss, and none of the kids were moving - had it been a dream? I thought surely I'd heard something...

"What the hell?!" a voice whispered urgently.

Ok, I _definitely_ heard that. Checking again to make sure none of my campers were awake, I carefully tiptoed to the door and cracked it open to peek out. The fire was still going, even though it was basically just embers now, but there was just enough light to make out two dark figures along the side of my porch. Curious, I made my way outside, and paused when I got to the bottom of the cabin steps. As I squinted into the faint glow from the dying fire, my eyes fought to make out the two figures near my cabin - Edward and Mike, the latter of which was currently sprawled out in the grass.

"What's going on here?" I hissed, irritated that they could have woken up my campers. I wasn't in the mood for another round of the '_Bella & Edward_' song. Thankfully the day had been a long one, and they seemed to be sleeping soundly.

"Nothing to worry about, Bella - go on back to bed. Newton here just found the sudden urge to go for a midnight stroll, which he claims just coincidentally involved a trip over to this area. Thankfully I was still up and was here to remind him the guys are to stay on their side of the campsite during the night, and to steer him back in the right direction," Edward replied in a light tone, while simultaneouslyglaring at Mike.

"Well…what exactly are you doing on the ground then, Mike?" I asked.

"Err – I tripped on – _something. _It was a rock, I guess…" Mike looked around curiously, searching for the culprit that had caused difficulties with his balance.

"Perhaps you should pay closer attention to where you're walking, Mike," Edward replied icily.

I shook my head, taking in the situation. Had Mike really been trying to get to my cabin? That was what Edward was insinuating, and well, he could read minds... One look at Mike and I could tell Edward was right - Mike looked extremely embarrassed. I was beginning to wonder exactly how dense a person could really be - I was getting married for goodness sake! Ugh.

As Mike mumbled something about 'worrying about me, wanting to make sure everything was all right,' he reluctantly tromped off back in the direction of his cabin.

Edward reached out to me, gently trying to turn me back to my cabin. I paused, looking up at him accusingly. "Edward…that rock that Mike tripped over – it wouldn't happen to resemble your foot, would it?"

Edward grinned crookedly at me for a moment. "You need your rest Bella. There won't be any more...incidents, don't worry. I'll keep a close eye on Newton ," Edward said quietly.

I glanced over at the fire pit. Rosalie was there, but Emmett, Jasper and Alice were nowhere to be seen. I could only imagine what they were up to. Thankfully, I was eager to return to my sleep which didn't leave me much time to ponder the possibilities.

**

* * *

**

The alarm clock beside my bed began ringing at precisely seven o'clock in the morning, and once again I was reminded how much I preferred Edward's gentle, loving way of waking me as opposed to this annoyance. I was exhausted, but I forced myself into a sitting position to face the day since I had others to get up and care for. Half of the kids were already awake, sitting on their friends' beds, whispering away and giggling. Bless them for letting me sleep till the last second. I didn't even care if they were still whispering about what they'd seen last night, I was just thankful for rest.

After our trip to the bathhouse, we gathered outside to make our way to the morning flag raising, after which breakfast would follow. Rosalie, Angela and Jessica were all mumbling about not being able to find some items in their cabins, but I was too tired to help, and reminded myself to help them look later.

Edward was waiting near the fire pit with his campers, and after discreetly greeting me and whispering in my ear that he loved me as I passed him, fell into step behind us. Not a moment later a screen door slammed and the flurry of footsteps filled the air, and before I could turn to see what the commotion was, Alice was at my side, and so were all her kids. Blinking, I slowly took in their appearances.

Each of Alice 's campers' outfits were all various shades of lavender – which coincidentally was the color of their freshly painted cabin. All of their shirts had glittery, sparkling symbols on the fronts – there were hearts, stars, rainbows – it was endless. I may not know much about clothes, but thanks to Alice I knew enough to spot expensive ones, and these were practically screaming 'kiddie couture.' Even Alice was clad in a designer knit top in a light shade of purple. It was unbelievable – she had color-coded her kids.

" Alice ...what happened to their clothes?" I asked quietly, glancing at my own campers, wondering if they would become jealous of the transformed campers. Surprisingly, my girls didn't seem to mind in the slightest - instead, they were looking slightly wary of the sparkling group, as if they were afraid it would happen to them next. No wonder we all got along so well – I could completely relate.

"Well, Bella, my campers were very well behaved yesterday, so they earned a lot of tokens and we got to go to the camp store," she said as she looked over her group again. "They all wanted to match," she added proudly. "Maybe if your group gets tokens I can take them to the store for you," she said eagerly eyeing my kids, who literally shuffled backwards slightly.

"Actually, I don't think that's going to be necessary…I'll take them when they get their first tokens," I said, silently cursing Alice for this whole stupid store thing – leave it to her to find a way to combine two of my most hated activities – camping and shopping.

"We'll see…let's get to the flag ceremony, shall we?" she chirped in response, raising her voice for everyone else to hear. When I glanced back at Edward curiously, he just shook his head as he fought off a grin.

A few minutes later found us all at the flagpole, where Rosalie and her campers were waiting. They looked impeccable - the girls were all immaculately groomed, their hair styled beautifully full of pretty bows and ribbons, ponytails and braids. They were all were smiling brightly, the perfect picture of happiness. She really would have been the perfect mother. I was just thankful neither I nor anyone else in my group - especially Sophie - had fallen down yet today.

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard snickering and giggles break out around us. My first thought was that something was on me, so I fearfully started checking myself but found nothing. I looked over at Edward, who suddenly looked as if he was trying his hardest to _not _join in the laughter. Before I could figure out what was so funny, Emmett and his kids appeared at the top of the hill and made their way over to join us, followed closely by Mike and his campers.

Emmett had one of his boys in his arms and was swinging the kid around his waist at record speed, much to the boys delight - he was squealing in laughter. He'd only managed to barely set him down before another kid called out, "Me next, Emmett, me next!"

Emmett was about to pick up another of his campers when suddenly a boy from the back of his group pointed up into the air and screeched, "I see London , I see France , I see someone's underpants!"

The giggling and snickering immediately escalated into full-blown laughter, and looking up, I finally understood the cause of it. Someone had put a pair of Superman underwear up the flagpole, and they waved brightly in the brisk morning breeze. Glancing around in horror, I felt immensely bad for whatever kid the underwear belonged to - how embarrassing, even at that age.

It was odd; not one of the kids seemed upset - every face I glanced at was filled with laughter. Maybe it didn't bother them after all. I glanced over at Edward, who was now exchanging an odd look with Emmett - the two of them looked like the cat that swallowed the canary, which confused me even more until an incredibly bright shade of red caught my attention in my peripheral vision. Mike Newton looked as if he were wishing the earth would open up and swallow him.

It was only when Jasper came out from the mess hall with the camp logo flag that the giggling subsided. He lowered the Superman underwear, and very carefully set them aside, mentioning that he would put them in the lost and found box for the owner to claim on their own time. I didn't miss that his eyes met Mike's as he said it. Jasper could probably feel the humiliation seeping from Mike's pores, after all.

Alice led the flag ceremony, and not minutes later, we were settled in, enjoying our breakfast. Once again, I sat with the Cullens, and this time Mike headed off to sit with Jessica in the opposite corner; he was distancing himself from us. Angela waved apologetically at me, and went to join them as Jessica was calling out her name repeatedly. I waved back to let her know I understood.

"So...anyone care to explain that little scene out at the flagpole this morning?" I asked under my breath.

Emmett snorted while Edward fought back a smirk. "Bella, we were just getting...our point across, that's all," Edward said musically as he glanced back over at Mike.

"What's that supposed to mean, Edward? Can you _please_ stop being so cryptic for once?" I retorted, feeling frustrated at being confused yet again.

"Well, Newton _was_ caught trying to sneak over to my fiancé's cabin in the middle of the night. It's highly inappropriate, and could not go unnoticed. He had to be made aware that there would be consequences for such behavior. As far as the selected punishment...well, that was Emmett's idea, but I can't necessarily say that I didn't find any humor in it," Edward explained as he shrugged.

"So tripping him wasn't enough, you had to hang his underwear for the whole world to see? Don't you think that's a bit much?" I pressed.

"In my honest opinion, neither action was enough - but I'm willing to give him a chance to redeem himself before we take any further action. Besides, it's not like we told the kids who the underwear belonged to - nobody knows except for those that need to know," Edward replied, leaning towards me as he grinned crookedly. There he goes dazzling me again, forgetting any of the pity I'd had for Mike just moments earlier...

"Yeah, well I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you, Edward. Newton may have been humiliated this morning, but there were some serious vibes of revenge coming off of him too - just as they still are," Jasper murmured, while softly tracing the outline of Alice 's hand.

The rest of the meal progressed quietly, and a while later we were gathered back at our campsite with all the kids gathered near their counselors to discuss how we would spend our first 'free day.' As I glanced around, I noticed Emmett and his group was missing – what could be holding them up?

**A/N: I hope everyone is still enjoying this...it's different than the first one, and is more difficult to 'balance out' - I wanted the Cullens and Bella to still be the focus, so it's kind of hard to write the kids in without going to much into detail with all of them. Also, you'll see more of what the Cullens are doing at night eventually, but since Bella has to sleep in this one and it's from her POV, it will take a bit to get there. Thanks - please review! **

**A/N: One more thing - since I'll be gone for a week I thought I'd ask you all to read something in the meantime. A friend of mine has posted her story on here - she's got four chapters up so far - and hasn't gotten even one review...which is too bad, because I think it's a very interesting story. When I get the chance I'm going to go review it myself, but could you all please go check it out and encourage her to continue? Her penname is LisaEver, and the story's called Taken. She's also writing a fantastic story about Carlisle, and perhaps is she gets some encouragement on her first story she'll post it too. Here's the link: ****http://www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/5006921/1/Taken**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Hi everyone! I'm back from vacation. *sigh* It was wonderful, wish we could have stayed even longer. Anyway, here's the next chapter - it's not my best, but it'll have to do, I still have the beach on my mind. Thank you for reading, and as always, thanks for the reviews. I'd like to ask those of you who haven't reviewed to please do so - there are over 300 of you reading, and at least 130 have it marked as a favorite, but the reviews have dropped. Chapter 6 had 43 reviews, then they dropped to around 21 for Chapters 7 & 8. You all know I love reviews...so please? Thanks!**

_(Previously):_

_"So tripping Mike wasn't enough, you had to hang his underwear for the whole world to see? Don't you think that's a bit much?" I pressed._

_"In my honest opinion, neither action was enough - but I'm willing to give him a chance to redeem himself before we take any further action. Besides, it's not like we told the kids who the underwear belonged to - nobody knows except for those that need to know," Edward replied, leaning towards me as he grinned crookedly. There he goes dazzling me again, forgetting any of the pity I'd had for Mike just moments earlier..._

_"Yeah, well I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you, Edward. Newton may have been humiliated this morning, but there were some serious vibes of revenge coming off of him too - just as they still are," Jasper murmured, while softly tracing the outline of Alice 's hand._

_The rest of the meal progressed quietly, and a while later we were gathered back at our campsite with all the kids gathered near their counselors to discuss how we would spend our first 'free day.' As I glanced around, I noticed Emmett and his group were missing – what could be holding them up?_

**Chapter 9:**

"Ok everyone, today's a 'free day,' so we need to decide what everyone would like to do and divide up accordingly," Alice announced from her perch atop one of the benches. "We'll go group by group and take suggestions, then narrow it down from there. First, let's start with the boys."

It was actually quite pointless to even ask, as the entire camp was unanimous in their decision – everyone wanted to spend the day at the lake. Alice mumbled something about Emmett being absent for the vote, and Edward spoke for him, saying he was quite sure they would be happy with the lake as well. Just as everyone separated and went off to their cabins to get their kids ready a loud clanging noise, followed by crashing sounds erupted from Emmett's cabin, causing everyone to glance curiously in that direction. What was going on in there, anyway?

I encouraged my campers to continue on so we could get ready, but I noticed Rosalie staring at Emmett's cabin intently, as if she were trying to decide if she should go investigate.

"Come on Miss Rosie, let's go, let's go!" her girls were tugging at her shirt, eager to get ready so they could depart for the lake. Not one to let her kids down, she moved along, even though she was still looking curiously over her shoulder.

Finally ready to go, we gathered at the start of the path that led to the lake. We were still waiting on Emmett's group when suddenly his cabin door flew open and he and his campers all came running out of it.

His kids were all covered in sweat and even Emmett himself looked disheveled. Before he could say a word, one of his campers started rambling loudly.

"Sammy got loose, and then Freddid too, and we had to catch –" he began excitedly, his eyes wide.

"ERR – what he means, is we were telling a really exciting story about…_stuff_, and they just got caught up in it, that's all. Sorry we're late – let's get moving, we don't have all day!" Emmett broke in, interrupting the kid.

"Why are they all sweaty, Emmett, if you were just telling a story?" Rosalie asked suspiciously, her eyes narrowed.

Emmett blinked. "It was an interactive story – like I said, they got caught up in it. Kids get involved in things, Rose," he replied, although his voice was a bit uncertain.

Rosalie was about to say something else when Alice jumped in. "Whatever, Emmett – next time don't keep us waiting. The kids are very excited - we're going to the lake, all right? We voted, but since you weren't out here, we just went ahead and decided," Alice explained, as if daring him to disagree.

Rosalie was just staring at him, clearly making Emmett uncomfortable. "Yep – sure, the lake's great – I assumed that's where we'd be going since they've all been talking about it so much. We're dressed for it, so let's just go already," he pushed, leading his kids down the path ahead of the rest of us. At least his vampire hearing had allowed him to dress his campers properly to swim.

Confused, I glanced at Edward, who Rosalie was watching intently now as well; she was likely looking for signs that would reveal something about Emmett's thoughts. Edward didn't say a word – he just shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, until Rosalie gave up and joined her campers on the path. When she wasn't looking, he looked over at me and winked, and silently mouthed "later." Clearly, he didn't want Rosalie overhearing whatever had been Emmett's problem.

When we arrived at the lake, the kids immediately started peeling off the layers of clothing that were covering their swimsuits. They were positively eager to get into the water; despite the fact that it was consistently overcast, the temperature could get quite warm on summer days. It was already hot out, and it was still early in the day. We began to arrange the blankets we'd brought for everyone to have a place to sit if they wanted, and most of us settled down to watch the campers have fun.

Jessica climbed her lifeguard tower and reluctantly focused her attention on the water. It was obvious she'd rather be talking to Mike, as she kept trying to glance in his direction.

Minutes later, the sound of some sort of engine could be heard coming from the path we'd taken to get here, and I turned to see what it was. Suddenly, a rather large four- wheeler came flying out from the weeds, with some sort of cart attached to the back of it which crashed against the gravel noisily. It was obvious the driver was going too fast and not being overly cautious, and when the vehicle came to an abrupt halt on the beach's surface it sent a cloud of sand and dust whirling in the air covering everything – and everyone.

"Jasper! Do you _think_ you could have used a bit more discretion? Now we're all covered in sand," Rosalie hissed, glaring angrily from where she sat.

"Sorry…guess I kind of got caught up in the adrenaline rush," Jasper apologized. "You can always wash it off in the water though," he suggested, motioning toward the lake.

"Excellent idea, my brother!" Emmett exclaimed, peeling off his shirt. "But first – where'd you get _that_? I'm going to have to try it out later," he said, pointing at the four-wheeler.

"No can do, Emmett. This is for the groundskeeper's use only – it was in the shed behind my cabin," Jasper replied, glancing over at Alice.

Emmett rolled his eyes, and threw Jasper a look of irritation before he turned to the lake. He took off running for the dock and threw himself off the edge bellowing "Cannonball!" Kids began to squeal as a massive wave overtook them.

Jasper began unloading various items that had been strapped into the cart. There were inner tubes, rafts shaped like animals, noodles, balls, scuba masks, and tons of assorted toys to play in the sand with. The kids began swarming from the water to take in the new objects, and one by one began dragging the rafts and things back toward the water. It was a good thing someone had already filled the rafts with air – some of them were huge.

"Where the heck did all that come from? I thought Sue said there were some inner tubes in the shed – not the entire toy section from the Pool Depot," Rosalie murmured, watching as the lake was filled with oversized floating turtles, dolphins and seals.

"Well…anyway, I've got to get back – lots to do today," Jasper said evasively, climbing back onto his vehicle.

"Oh, Jasper? Just one more thing – that looks to be the new Honda ATV, which didn't actually become available until a month ago – how could it have been in the shed if the maintenance man had quit last year?" Edward asked, raising an eyebrow. Something was definitely going on that I didn't get.

Jasper didn't reply. Instead, he shook his head, almost smirking, and took off back toward the camp. Alice hopped up and made her way over to the leftover toys and began organizing them into piles depending on if they were meant for the sand or water.

"What's going on, Edward? What was that all about?" I asked.

Edward chuckled. "Remember the other night when I told you Alice doesn't respond well to being told she can't do something, and how it tends to have the opposite effect?"

I nodded, vaguely recalling something of the sort as I was falling asleep.

"Well –" he started, but was interrupted as Mike wandered over to our blanket.

"Anyone want to go for a swim?" he asked, staring directly at me.

A very faint low growl came from the back of Edward's throat.

"No thanks, Mike. I'm talking to Edward about our honeymoon plans," I replied, smiling up at him. Maybe that would get the point across.

Rosalie sighed and got up, very faintly muttering something that sounded a lot like "Idiot." She seemed to be as fed-up with Mike as Edward was. She wandered over to some of her campers who were playing in the sand, and knelt down to join them, settling next to Emma, the foster child.

Mike walked away clearly dejected, and Jessica took that opportunity to pounce, calling him over to her.

Before I could ask Edward to explain more about what he'd been saying earlier, Alice saw that Rosalie had left us, and came back over. "Can you believe Emmett? I swear he has a death-wish," she whispered, glancing over her shoulder at Rosalie, who was now completely immersed with building an extravagant sand mansion with her girls.

Edward chuckled. "I'd have to agree with you there, Alice. You'd think he'd know better from last time."

_Now_ what was I missing? If there was an award for the most confused person on the planet, I would easily win it today.

"What? Would someone please explain to me what the heck you're talking about?" I said a bit harshly.

"You know all that noise that was coming from Emmett's cabin before we left? Well, it seems as though one of his campers – that Simon kid, you know, the one that was upset about leaving his cat behind? Well, he has quite the weakness for animals. So much so, that he smuggled his two pet guinea pigs into camp. He hid their little cage in his bag because he couldn't stand to leave them at home. Remember when they came running out of their cabin and that kid blurted out about Sammy and Fred getting loose?" Edward whispered, glancing warily over at Rosalie.

"So Sammy and Fred are the guinea pigs?" I asked.

Alice giggled. "Uh huh. And what's worse, is that kid keeps finding various things in the woods like salamanders and bringing them into the cabin. Emmett keeps finding them and panicking, thinking Rosalie is going to find out and blame him – that's how I know – I had a vision of Emmett purposefully deciding to hide it from her," she added, her eyes bright.

"Wow…of all the bizarre coincidences…" I whispered, almost feeling sorry for Emmett. Maybe Charlie knew the Cullens more than I thought; Alice's campers all had her enthusiasm for fashion, Rosalie's kids worshipped her, Edward's kids were all quiet but confident, Emmett's kids were loud, and now one even had this issue with animals…for that matter, my own campers were shy and quiet, and I had an immensely clumsy individual on my hands as well. Then something else occurred to me.

"Wait – you both made it sound like it was Emmett's fault, but to me it sounds like it's just the kid doing it, not Emmett – why are you saying he should know better if he's not responsible?" I asked, thinking back over their comments.

Edward smiled lightly. "It may be the kid starting it, but instead of taking the various critters back into the woods, Emmett has set up a sort of 'refuge' for the things Simon keeps bringing in…he's dedicated the entire back corner of their cabin to the things."

"Why? I mean – are you kidding me?" I asked in disbelief.

"Unfortunately no, I'm not kidding…" Edward replied, pausing as Emmett made his way out of the water and headed in our direction.

"You guys should get in – it's great!" Emmett boomed, shaking droplets of water in all directions. He threw himself down onto the blanket across from us.

"It's best I not risk it – besides, so far Sophie hasn't had any problems, and goodness knows if I got in the water she'd probably drown or something," I muttered in response, causing Edward to frown.

"So, I've been thinking – what do you think about that whole "Great Forest Fairy" thing? Even Big Sue mentioned it – maybe it's got some merit behind it," Emmett said, watching our expressions carefully.

"Emmett. You fully know there are no such things as fairies – period. Why would you even buy into such nonsense," Alice replied, exasperated.

"Sure, and most people go around thinking there's no such thing as vampires either, but here we are, sitting on the beach," Emmett retorted.

"Whatever, you're being ridiculous," Alice said. She reached over and picked up a small shovel and started drawing intricate designs into the sand.

"She's right you know. There's no such thing, and you should really let it go," Edward said, glancing over at Emmett seriously.

"What? I never said I believed it, I was just asking a question. Jeez - you guys can be so judgmental," Emmett replied defensively.

Edward sighed loudly. "Emmett, I can hear your thoughts, remember? You _do_ believe it, and I can only imagine how much time you're going to waste on this nonsense. You've got enough happening that could seriously anger your wife – do you really want to add the belief of fairies to the list?"

Emmett mumbled something incomprehensible under his breath, but quickly got quiet as Rosalie glanced over at us. He waved and blew a kiss in her direction, which made her smile.

A couple of hours later, we heard the sound of the four-wheeler again, this time approaching more slowly. Jasper was back, and had brought lunch in the attached cart. Before we'd left the campsite, we'd told Angela to alert Esme of our plans to go to the lake so they could arrange for lunch to get to us.

After the kids had eaten and rested a bit they immediately took to the water again, Emmett following closely behind. They were desperate for him to go back in with them - apparently he'd been giving rides on his back in the water with two or three kids at a time, pretending to be some kind of giant sea mammal.

Eventually Rosalie's kids convinced her to get in with them too. All it took was a few 'Please Miss Rosie, we love you!' calls and she was down to her tankini and in the water. At least she'd had the common sense to choose modest swim wear for this trip.

With all the kids out in the water with Emmett and Rosalie, the rest of us continued to relax on our blankets. Mike was still sitting by Jessica, listening to her go on about her plans for college, and which sororities she'd be pledging.

As I watched Alice study her checklist for the wedding she'd somehow managed to bring, a question came to mind. "So, what have all of you been doing at night?" I asked, realizing I hadn't had time to wonder much about it until now - everything had been so overwhelming.

Edward grinned slightly. "I've been spending the majority of my time out by the fire, making sure you're all right. Since I can't stay _with_ you in your cabin, it's the next best thing," he added. "Rosalie is sometimes out at the fire with me, but mostly she stays inside with her campers; she likes being close to them."

"What about you Alice? What have you been doing?" I asked curiously. She'd begun to look guilty when I'd brought the subject up.

Alice hesitated, glancing at Edward, who narrowed his eyes at her. She sighed in exasperation. "Too bad, Edward - it's Bella's choice, not yours." She turned to me. "Well Bella, actually I've been hanging out at Jasper's cabin at night. Emmett's usually there too - Rosalie watches and listens to our kids to make sure they're all right while we're gone. If any of them were to wake up or have problems, she said she could handle it, and Edward's always lurking around the fire, so he can deal with the boys if they wake up. I was going to ask you to come along, but _someone_," she glared at Edward, who looked furious, "wouldn't let me ask you because he insisted you needed to sleep. It's not like she couldn't sleep at Jasper's," she added, turning back to Edward.

"Wait - what's going on at Jasper's? That place looked worse than our cabins. Why would you want to spend your time there? I'm sure Jasper could sit around the fire with you guys instead - wouldn't you be more comfortable?" I asked.

Alice snorted delicately. "Why don't you come with us tonight and see?" she replied, while Edward adamantly shook his head. "We're always back before the kids wake up – I'd make sure to wake you and get you back into your cabin in time."

"Absolutely not - Bella needs her rest. I know your idea of letting her rest and it's not enough, Alice. She'd be exhausted tomorrow, and she's got to be able to pay attention at her scheduled activities," he said.

"Whatever, Edward. I'll ask you later, Bella. If you want to come, you should - you'd like it, I'm quite sure," she said, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

The two of them were wearing me down with their bickering, so I just shrugged my shoulders and leaned back, eager to get a quick rest in before it was time to head back to camp. What could be so special about Jasper's place? The last time I saw it, it looked like it was about to fall apart. As Alice and Edward continued to converse in hushed, irritated tones, I let my mind drift off.

Eventually it was time to head back to camp to get ready for dinner. After Jasper came back and loaded all the rafts and toys up, we cleaned up everything else and herded the kids back up the path. Sophie appeared out of nowhere, taking my hand in hers grinning up at me - I could tell she was feeling triumphant for an 'accident-free' day, and knowing how she felt, I couldn't help but grin back.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks for reading, and thanks for reviewing! You guys are the best!**

_(Previously):_

_"Wait - what's going on at Jasper's? That place looked worse than our cabins. Why would you want to spend your time there? I'm sure Jasper could sit around the fire with you guys instead - wouldn't you be more comfortable?" I asked._

_Alice snorted delicately. "Why don't you come with us tonight and see?" she replied, while Edward adamantly shook his head. "We're always back before the kids wake up – I'd make sure to wake you and get you back into your cabin in time."_

_"Absolutely not - Bella needs her rest. I know your idea of letting her rest and it's not enough, Alice. She'd be exhausted tomorrow, and she's got to be able to pay attention at her scheduled activities," he said._

_"Whatever, Edward. I'll ask you later, Bella. If you want to come, you should - you'd like it, I'm quite sure," she said, her eyes sparkling mischievously._

_The two of them were wearing me down with their bickering, so I just shrugged my shoulders and leaned back, eager to get a quick rest in before it was time to head back to camp. What could be so special about Jasper's place? The last time I saw it, it looked like it was about to fall apart. As Alice and Edward continued to converse in hushed, irritated tones, I let my mind drift off._

_Eventually it was time to head back to camp to get ready for dinner. After Jasper came back and loaded all the rafts and toys up, we cleaned up everything else and herded the kids back up the path. Sophie appeared out of nowhere, taking my hand in hers grinning up at me - I could tell she was feeling triumphant for an 'accident-free' day, and knowing how she felt, I couldn't help but grin back._

**Chapter 10:**

Thankfully dinner was quiet. It was nice to have some time when I wasn't constantly worried about everything around me, and as I glanced around the mess hall, my gaze came to rest upon Sophie, and I could tell she was as relaxed as I was. She was finally opening up and forming some good friendships here; she's started to become quite close with another of my campers whose name was Krista. She seemed like a smart, sincere girl and I was happy to see Sophie's progress – hopefully the two could remain in touch after camp ended. Who knows – maybe the two would even return to the camp again next year.

Sighing with contentment, I turned back to my future family. Carlisle had joined us again tonight, and after Esme had gotten all the kids their food, she'd come out from behind the counter as well. Obviously they were only here for the social reasons - they probably wanted to catch up with us and see how things were developing. After all - it'd been an entire day without me having to visit the medical facilities, so surely they were curious.

"So, has everyone submitted their ideas to the suggestion box?" Emmett asked casually, glancing around the table at each of us.

Alice nodded eagerly. "I suggested a fashion show, and that's what Rosalie suggested too," she said excitedly.

Emmett rolled his eyes. "Big Sue will never approve that – like the boys would want to be a part of it. It has to be something everyone can participate in."

"I suggested a cooking contest," I shrugged.

"That's a lovely idea Bella," Esme said sincerely as Carlisle nodded in agreement. "You could teach the kids things as you go."

"Well she better not accept that suggestion – Bella would have an unfair advantage. Newton would too – he eats food, so he's probably cooked something before," Emmett replied, crossing his arms irritably.

"Like you guys don't _always_ have an unfair advantage, Emmett," I spat back.

Edward went on to add that he'd also suggested a cooking contest – he'd asked me what I wanted it to be before submitting his suggestion, and gone along with it because he wanted me to be happy. I also knew he wasn't too worried about cooking – ever since we'd started dating he'd begun watching the Food Network and was now more than capable of making a few dishes successfully.

"Well if you're so brilliant Emmett, what did you suggest?" Rosalie asked.

"Water balloon fight," he said, smiling as he leaned back in his chair.

I sighed. Why did I have the feeling he was going to get his way? The look on Alice 's face didn't make me feel much better.

After dinner had ended, we left the mess hall with our groups. I was so eager to get back to camp – I was desperately looking forward to bedtime. Being out in the heat all day, even though all I'd done was sit on a blanket, had exhausted me.

Of course Alice kept trying to insist I come with her to Jasper's cabin tonight, but I didn't have it in me – there was only a fifty percent chance Alice would actually let me get any sleep, and that wasn't a chance I wanted to take tonight.

Thankfully the campfire time and snacks didn't take long as there was no story telling tonight, just the kids chatting amongst themselves, and soon we were off to bed. I said a quick goodnight to Edward and was practically asleep before my head hit the pillow, as were my campers. The heat and swimming must have taken its toll on them too.

By morning I felt much better, and after I'd gotten my kids up and ready as well as myself, I wandered outside to find Edward. He was sitting around the fire pit, and his campers were already lounging around in the grass, just hanging out. Edward looked as if he was upset about something as I approached him.

"Good morning, Edward. Are you ok? You look upset," I said, placing my hand on his shoulder.

Edward met my eyes slowly. "I've hit rock bottom, Bella," he muttered, looking back down to the ground.

"Edward, what on earth do you mean?" I asked, concerned. What could possibly be bothering him so much?

He sighed heavily as he raised his gaze and looked across the campsite, where Mike was emerging from the guys' bathhouse. "I hate to admit it - even now I feel shameful for my actions...but one should never underestimate the power of jealousy. I've become so utterly furious at Newton 's blatant disregard for our upcoming nuptials that it's driven me to extremes. The silence of the night...not having you to hold securely at my side to grant me the reassurance that you won't somehow slip through my fingertips has brought me to this point. It is with that confession that I accept the inappropriateness of my actions, but I will also make myself clear - watching Newton emerge from that bathhouse, knowing full well that he just brushed his teeth, I cannot help but feel some small sort of satisfaction knowing that less than four hours ago that same toothbrush was tracing the inside of one of the men's toilet bowls."

I stared back at Edward, and then looked over at Mike. He was running his tongue over his teeth, and suddenly I couldn't help myself. Giggles consumed me as I doubled over; I hadn't realized exactly how irritated I'd been with Mike, but after having heard Edward's toilet bowl confession, it suddenly dawned on me how unnecessarily patient I was being with Mike. I mean, come on - our wedding is just a matter of weeks away, and the guy keeps hitting on me. Ridiculous - and disrespectful; Edward's choice of revenge seemed mild in light of my revelation.

"Oh Edward!" I gasped, fighting to catch my breath. "You shouldn't feel bad about that – I don't blame you at all! If it had been me, I probably would have done something much worse…" I added, resting my forehead against his shoulder. It was true – the mere thought of another woman hitting on Edward made my blood boil. I could usually get along with anyone, but I had a feeling that if put in such a situation I wouldn't handle myself so well. I was still fairly jealous when anyone brought up Tanya, who had once thrown herself so disgustingly at Edward…

I forced myself to return to the matter at hand, and couldn't help but feel guilty – Edward was stuck out here at night by himself with nothing more than his thoughts to occupy his time, all because he was worried that something would happen to me.

"Edward…you know, you should really consider going to Jasper's tonight," I began, holding up a hand as he was about to interrupt. "Nothing is going to happen to me – I'll be fine. I just think that sitting out here by yourself at night isn't doing any good for you – the solitude is driving you crazy. Please at least consider it – for me," I added, hoping he would take me seriously.

A faint trace of a smile finally crept onto his face. "Bella love, I wouldn't leave your side for anything – even if it does make me do slightly irrational things to Newton ," he chuckled. "If the boy would just learn to control his thoughts better..." he trailed off, his expression darkening again.

I sighed, and promised myself that I would try again later to convince him to go to Jasper's tonight, knowing it would be nearly impossible to change his mind. One way or another, we'd have to find a solution to this problem.

At the flag ceremony, I was more than surprised to see that we were greeted once again with a pair of underwear waving from the top – this time they were Spiderman. Considering Edward's recent confession, I glanced over at him in surprise – it didn't seem likely that he would have gone to such measures after the toothbrush debacle.

In response to my questioning gaze, Edward shook his head, indicating he had nothing to do with it this time. Instead, he nodded ever so slightly in Emmett's direction, who was smiling widely at us. As he winked at me, I rolled my eyes. I should have known – of course it was Emmett.

After all the kids had gotten in line for breakfast I fell into place with the rest of the counselors. Alice wanted ahead of me, and instantly I saw why – Jasper was behind the counter with Esme. She must have convinced him to help her today.

After Alice had excitedly greeted her husband and finished making selections she would never eat she left the line. I reached for a small box of cereal and followed her to our usual table. I was only halfway there when Emmett's booming voice drifted across the room.

"Look Edward – it's Lunch Lady Jasper!" he laughed loudly. I rolled my eyes for the second time that morning as I glanced over my shoulder at them, feeling slightly sorry for Jasper, but the expression on his face made me freeze in my tracks.

Emmett didn't see the look on Jasper's face because he'd already left the line, but it was one of irritation – a lot of irritation. As he stared at Emmett's back, I felt the anger ebb at my system and at the same time dozens of pairs of eyes turned their focus to Emmett, and then slowly the horror began.

*SPLAT*

Emmett froze, his brow creasing.

*SPLISH* *SPLAT*

Slowly, Emmett reached a hand around to the back of his head, and felt the remains of the scrambled eggs that had recently made impact there. He began to turn to seek the culprit and as he did, ten other portions of eggs and oatmeal hit him directly in the face.

*SPLISH* *SPLAT* *SPLISH* *SPLAT*

"_FOOD FIGHT_!" a kid screamed out, and sheer madness ensued.

Just as quickly as I'd felt the anger picking at me it was gone, and I stumbled toward our table, trying to find somewhere to put down my tray and figure out what to do as various types of breakfast foods flew all around me. My foot hit something, and I began to tip forward, my tray flying.

Suddenly strong, cold arms gripped my waist and set me upright. "Bella, are you all right?" Edward asked urgently.

"I'm fine – but what about Sophie?" I yelled back. If I'd almost fallen, surely something would happen to her. "Please go find her Edward!"

He nodded in response, and I helplessly stared at the chaos around me.

"Psssstttt – Bella! Down here!" a voice whispered from somewhere. I looked around in confusion.

"Down _here_! Come on, Bella – get under here with me!" A tiny hand tugged at my shirt, and as I glanced down I saw Alice hiding under our table, her tray shielding her head from any attempted assaults.

I quickly ducked my head and crawled in next to her. " Alice – these kids are out of control!"

"I know, Bella – Emmett just _had_ to decide to make that stupid comment to Jasper. Even I couldn't do anything about it – Jasper lost his temper so fast and started making the kids angry with Emmett, and now look what's happened!" she said, gesturing around us.

"I don't understand - why isn't Jasper affecting us anymore too?" I asked. "I felt angry with him for a second, but then it passed."

"He only influenced the room for a moment – enough to get the food flying. Once it started, the rest of the kids naturally joined in – don't you know anything about food fights, Bella?" Alice asked incredulously.

Suddenly a tiny form was gently tucked under our table, and Sophie's wide eyes met mine. "He saved me – it was like magic – I didn't get hit once," she whispered, shyly glancing back at Edward, who was leaning over and looking at Alice and I.

"You all stay under here – I'm going to go get Jasper to help me get this under control," Edward said, disappearing quickly.

We waited, and finally order was restored, a massive wave of calm creeping over the room. After it was safe, we emerged from underneath the table and took in the carnage around us. The entire mess hall was _literally_ a mess, covered in all forms of breakfast foods. The kids all looked remorseful, waiting for their punishment. Rosalie stood in a corner of the room still looking as though she were trying to shield her kids, her arms outstretched with them behind her; she must have run to them the second it started. She was glowering in Emmett and Jasper's direction, bits of food dripping from her form – apparently she'd taken most of the hits for her kids. Mike, Angela and Jessica slowly climbed out from under the table they'd hidden under, glancing all around them in confusion as they pulled scrambled eggs from their hair. Esme stood in the kitchen behind Jasper, leaning over on the counter for support, her head in her hands – obviously she was a bit disappointed in two of her sons.

Edward slowly stepped to the front of the room to the podium and began speaking. "Well, that certainly was an interesting way to start our day, wasn't it? I'm sure you all know that type of behavior is not in the spirit of Camp Catawba , so let's all just agree that it won't happen again. With that behind us, we'll take a brief break and return to the campgrounds to clean up before proceeding onto our scheduled activities. As far as cleanup, well…one of our very own counselors – Emmett – has volunteered, and the maintenance staff has also agreed to help," Edward finished, his gaze shifting between Jasper and Emmett, who both looked resentful.

Since it hadn't been the kids' fault at all but really Jasper and Emmett's, I had to admire the way Edward handled the situation. Agreeing to take a break before all of our daily activities, we all filed out of the mess hall and headed back to camp to take our second round of showers for the day, while Alice grumbled about there not being enough time to run to the shop to get back-up outfits for the day. Her campers _had_ all been neatly clad in designer shades of pink, but were now covered in food and would have to change into mismatched ensembles. I briefly wondered exactly how many tokens she was handing out daily, and made a note to hand some of my own out later – I didn't want my group to feel left out.

**A/N: Sorry about Edward's...moment of weakness, but we have to get him upset enough to allow Bella to go to Jasper's - and you all want to go to Jasper's, right? Lol. Please remember to review, thanks! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thanks for reading, and thanks for the reviews!**

_(Previously):_

_Edward slowly stepped to the front of the room to the podium and began speaking. "Well, that certainly was an interesting way to start our day, wasn't it? I'm sure you all know that type of behavior is not in the spirit of Camp Catawba , so let's all just agree that it won't happen again. With that behind us, we'll take a brief break and return to the campgrounds to clean up before proceeding onto our scheduled activities. As far as cleanup, well…one of our very own counselors – Emmett – has volunteered, and the maintenance staff has also agreed to help," Edward finished, his gaze shifting between Jasper and Emmett, who both looked resentful._

_Since it hadn't been the kids' fault at all but really Jasper and Emmett's, I had to admire the way Edward handled the situation. Agreeing to take a break before all of our daily activities, we all filed out of the mess hall and headed back to camp to take our second round of showers for the day, while Alice grumbled about there not being enough time to run to the shop to get back-up outfits for the day. Her campers had all been neatly clad in designer shades of pink, but were now covered in food and would have to change into mismatched ensembles. I briefly wondered exactly how many tokens she was handing out daily, and made a note to hand some of my own out later – I didn't want my group to feel left out._

**Chapter 11:**

I'd checked my itinerary earlier out of fear, and had to admit to myself that I wasn't feeling all that bad about today's activity as I led my group to the Crafts area, which was set up under a small pavilion next to a large clearing surrounded by trees. Out of all the options, surely this one presented the least opportunity for trouble. We were paired up with Mike's group today, which wasn't exactly ideal, but hopefully he'd keep busy helping his kids.

I settled my group in their seats, and when I looked up I was pleased to see Angela heading in our direction. She must be assisting us today, which would be nice – she was so easy to be around, and I hadn't gotten to talk to her much since we'd arrived.

Angela smiled at me, and then began passing out the materials for our project. She informed us we'd be building and flying kites today. Hopefully they had some extra back-up kites in supply in case some of the kids had problems assembling theirs.

It seems as though it was carefully planned out – the kits provided were very basic and easy for the kids to understand. Angela directed them all patiently and made sure they were all on the right track. Once they all had the structure of the kites ready, Angela announced that they could now move on to the fun part – decorating them. She distributed lots of things amongst the tables – markers, glitter, stickers, construction paper, safety scissors, glue and a few other items.

Watching the different ranges of creativity was interesting; some kids were going into intricate detail, while some just went for the stickers and left it at that. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Mike kept watching me, but thankfully Angela distracted him with one of his campers whenever he looked as if he were going to move in my direction. She really was a great friend – and very perceptive. After a few minutes, she came back to check on my campers' progress.

"So Bella, how have you been? Is everything for the wedding ready?" she asked.

"I've been good – Alice has been a miracle worker, so I haven't had to worry much about wedding plans. What about you – are you excited about college?" I asked, happy to have a moment to catch up with her.

Angela began excitedly describing her plans, and I listened happily. I knew she'd have a great future ahead of her. After a while, she glanced back around at the kids. They were mostly done aside from a few, so she began gathering some of the materials from the kids that were finished and left to take them back to the storage cabinet in the mess hall.

I began circling the table, studying some of the finished products. When I reached Sophie, I noticed she was one of the few that weren't finished quite yet. She smiled up at me uncertainly as if seeking approval, so I leaned over her to get a closer look.

"Looks great, Sophie. You should be very proud of that kite," I said, causing her smile to grow. As I began to straighten myself back up, her kite began to follow me. Huh. That was odd…then I realized what the problem was – my hair had fallen over my shoulder and was lying in a small pool of glue she'd recently applied to her kite.

"Oops – sorry, Sophie. Let me get that," I murmured, carefully working to remove the strands from the glue.

"I'm sorry, Bella," she said, reaching up to try and help. Her little hands tugged at the ends of my hair, and for some reason it seemed to be getting worse.

"Ouch – hang on, Sophie. Quit moving for a second, please," I said calmly, trying to get control of the situation. Sophie obeyed and froze, her innocent eyes gazing up at me, her hands still embedded in my hair.

"Sophie…did you have more glue on your hands?" I asked.

Sophie's face reddened. "Um…maybe…" she trailed off. She was beginning to look upset. The few remaining girls that hadn't wandered off to play in the clearing just stared silently at the developing situation in front of them.

"No – don't be upset Sophie – it could happen to anyone," I said. "Let's just figure out how to get you unattached," I murmured, looking around for assistance. Mike was helping one of his kids finish up his kite, and I was hesitant to ask him for help anyway – he'd probably interpret it to mean I wanted to date him.

"What on earth – Bella, are you all right?" a voice called out – Angela. She suddenly appeared, having returned from the mess hall. Thank goodness.

"Yes, we're fine…just having a bit of a glue situation here, that's all," I replied, keeping my tone light for Sophie's benefit.

"Yes…I see that," Angela said, taking in the scene. She tugged at the kite, which she was able to work free after a few minutes, but by then Sophie's hands were fairly encrusted with dried glue and definitely stuck to my hair. "Why don't you two come with me, and we'll get you separated," she suggested.

Nodding, I picked Sophie up and shifted her weight onto my hip, carrying her so that I didn't have to walk bent over the whole way to the mess hall. I realized I was pushing my luck by taking her into my own arms, likely doubling our chances for further injury, but given the alternative I decided to take my chances. Trying to walk all the way over to the mess hall bent at an odd angle which would throw my balance way off seemed like a much worse idea.

When we safely arrived, Angela took us back into the kitchen where Esme was preparing items for lunch. She gasped when she saw us.

"We're fine, we're fine – just used a little too much glue, that's all," I said before she could worry too much.

Angela had Sophie hold her hands and the section of my head she was stuck to under warm water at the large kitchen basin. She worked slowly, gently loosening the tiny fingers from my hair. Finally, Sophie was free and I could set her down. Angela handed me a small towel to pat my sections of damp hair, which I fluffed vigorously around my head trying to hurry.

"Sorry I can't get the rest out right now – you've got to get back to the other kids, and I'm afraid that's going to take some time to work out, Bella. A long shower and lots of shampoo should do the trick later though," Angela smiled apologetically at me. "Since the craft portion of the activity is over, I'm scheduled to stay here with Mrs. Cullen and help prepare lunch."

Glancing into the stainless steel surface of the countertops, I couldn't make out exactly what I looked like, but I could tell my hair was a mess – it looked like a giant pouf of cotton candy or something. The remaining glue seemed to have reactivated a bit from the water, and by trying to fluff my hair dry with the towel I'd made it much, much worse.

I shrugged, smiling back at Angela. "Oh well, it could be worse, right?" I laughed, patting Sophie on the head. Esme watched with concern as Sophie and I left to head back to the pavilion. When we arrived, the others were already in the clearing, working to get their kites in the air.

As luck would have it, there was enough of a breeze in the air and after a little while the kites were flying, the kids all spread out across the field. They were having a great time, so I sat down in the grass to relax for a bit.

A second later, Mike wandered over and sat down next to me. "That's an interesting look, Bella," he grinned, nodding at my hair. "I especially like the sparkling effect – the glitter is a nice touch," he laughed.

Glitter? Great – Sophie must have had that all over her hands too. I rolled my eyes at him.

"So…you're really going through with this whole wedding thing? I mean…are you sure you want to be with Cullen for the rest of your life?" he asked doubtfully.

I sighed. "Yes, Mike – I'm absolutely sure I want to marry Edward, and I can't wait to start my life with him, ok?"

Now Mike sighed. "Look, I'm just saying I think he's kind of weird – his whole family is, for that matter. I think you could do a lot better," he added suggestively.

"Mike, if you're going to sit here and continue to pick on Edward and his family or discourage me from marrying me, then I'm not going to continue this conversation, got it?" I replied icily.

"Err – it looks like one of your kids is having some trouble," Mike muttered.

I followed his gaze, and saw that Sophie had gotten her kite tangled in a pine tree on the perimeter of the clearing. I hopped up and quickly made my over to try to help her.

Sophie looked upset. "I'm sorry Bella," she whispered, looking guilty. It made me feel horrible for her – she was having a rough day so far.

"Sophie, it's not your fault, don't feel bad – you can't help which way the wind blows silly," I replied, smiling encouragingly at her. "Let me see what I can do, ok?"

I approached the tree, trying to assess the point of impact, with Sophie following. It didn't look too bad – the string was caught on one of the lower branches, which although was still situated taller than me, I thought I'd be able to reach easily enough. I reached up, but I missed it on the first attempt.

"Sophie, you should come closer so you can pull the string tight when I get it loose – that way it won't get further tangled, ok?" I asked. She nodded, and moved forward so she was right next to me.

I yanked on the string a bit harder this time, but it was still stuck – it was something about the angle it was caught at. "Sophie, can you move around to the right of the tree and tug? That might help me a bit," I suggested.

She did as I asked and as she tugged, I leaned forward as much as I could on my tiptoes, and flicked at the string with my fingertips. Suddenly, it gave way and came loose.

Sophie gasped and reacted by running backwards, pulling on the string. "Wait – go the other way, Sophie – it's wrapping around me," I said, motioning with my hands. In response, she began to circle back the other way, but the string was caught on my belt buckle, and now I was stuck with two layers of string weaving me to the tree.

"Err – all right, hold on – can you try going back the way you just came from please? It got caught on my belt," I explained, smiling apologetically to the six year old. She began circling, but in the wrong direction.

"Um, not that way – the other way – hang on, it's catching again – err…no, the other way – yes that seems to be helping…no wait, it's making it worse I think…to the left, Sophie – no, your other left…" I stammered, wondering what on earth was happening.

Five minutes later, Sophie stopped, her eyes wide. "Bella, I think maybe we need some help," she whispered, staring up at me. I had to admit she was right; I was completely surrounded by a cocoon of string, secured to the tree. I probably looked like I was caught in a spider web.

I sighed. "Yes, I think you're right…can you go get the other counselor, Mike for me? Thanks Sophie," I said, gritting my teeth over the fact I had to ask Mike for help.

I watched her run over to him, and motion towards me and the tree. His brow creased, and he made his way over to me.

"Bella…what happened to you?" he asked, taking in my situation.

"I was trying to help Sophie get her kite free, Mike. Could you please get me loose? We weren't having much luck," I replied, doing my best to keep the sarcasm from my voice.

Mike chuckled. "Sure, Bella, I can help. Maybe next time you should ask someone else to help instead of getting involved yourself," he added, smirking.

He began with where Sophie had left off, carefully tracing the string's path backwards, slowly unraveling its hold on me. Every time he passed in front of me, he paused, lingering more than necessary – it was beyond irritating. When he got down to the very last layer of string, he leaned in and reached his arms around either side of me, passing the string from his right hand to his left on the other side of the tree, trapping me in an odd sort of half-embrace. "There, that should do it, Bella," he breathed into my hair. A second later he pulled away from me, grinning.

Tired of his immature behavior, I tried to step away from the tree to return to my campers, but my clothing was resisting my movements. Confused, I tried to look over my shoulder to see what the problem was. A sweet smell filled my senses. I hadn't noticed it before since I'd been so distracted with the kite - tree sap. Sighing irritably, I peeled the back of my shirt and shorts free from the tree with such force I fell over onto the ground with a huff, landing in a pile of pine needles. Mike just looked at me as if I were a source of amusement for him, and then offered me his hand to help me up.

Glaring at him, I refused his hand and stood up by myself, stomping off toward my campers who looked slightly startled at my new appearance. Now not only did I have sparkly hair that looked like I'd stuck my finger in a light socket, but my entire backside was covered in sharp spiky pine needles as well. Exhausted and hungry, I just waved them towards the mess hall, mumbling something about it being lunchtime and following behind them. Who knew something like Crafts could be so dangerous?

When we entered the hall, I was thrilled to see that we were some of the first there, and I didn't hesitate to get into line immediately. Esme took in my appearance again as I moved down the line, her face full of concern. I smiled at her to let her know despite my resemblance to some sort of cave person, I was fine. She shook her head, and turned back to the kids in line. I could feel most of the eyes in the room fixate on me and I purposefully ignored them and got the rest of my food.

As I was sitting at our usual table inhaling my food, Edward and his group entered the hall. His gaze immediately met mine and his eyes widened to an unusual extent. He made his way quickly – almost a little too quickly – to my side, settling into the chair beside me.

"Bella…." he paused, seemingly unsure of what to say. "Love, are you all right?" he asked finally, moving to rest a hand on my shoulder then thinking better of it. "What on earth happened?" his eyes swept over me from head to toe, clearly at a loss for words.

I sighed. He'd been with Rosalie's group at Archery today and hadn't had any contact with Alice, so of course he was confused to as of why I looked the way I did. "I know I look horrible, Edward. There was nothing I could do about it, ok? It was just a mess, and even now I'm not sure how it all happened. It was just one thing after another."

"Don't be ridiculous – you're absolutely beautiful as always. It's just – well, you don't exactly look comfortable," he added, apparently trying to make me feel better. He moved in closer to me and carefully peeled a glued strand of hair off of my neck, when suddenly he froze.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked. Usually when he acted like that it wasn't a good sign.

His brow furrowed, and he moved even closer, discreetly sniffing the air around me before leaning back in his chair. He looked very distraught, and I couldn't imagine why.

I asked him repeatedly what was wrong, but he kept dismissing it, telling me everything was fine. I was about to ask him to explain his odd behavior for the fifth time when the loud clattering noise of a tray dropping onto our table distracted me.

I glanced up to see Emmett standing there, openly staring at me with his mouth hanging open. He blinked once, and then erupted into a fit of laughter. "Bella," he gasped trying to gain control of his voice, "you look like an electrocuted porcupine," he finished, clutching at his sides.

I just nodded in agreement, still gazing at Edward in confusion, who didn't even acknowledge Emmett's remark; instead he was simply staring down at the table lost in his own thoughts.

Shortly after that the rest of the Cullens showed up, and I took in each of their concerned reactions one by one. Alice actually squeaked in shock when she saw me – she said she'd had the vision of it happening, but that it was entirely different seeing the real-life version. Edward remained quiet and the more time that went by the more agitated he looked, and I was beginning to freak out a little. He was still silent, but now he was glancing steadily back and forth from Mike to me.

"So, Bella – are you enjoying yourself so far?" Carlisle asked, interrupting my thoughts. It was almost funny how he was always trying to ignore the obvious – did it look like I'd had fun today?

Ignoring my instinct to snort sarcastically at his question, I replied politely instead – it was Carlisle after all, and he was only trying to make me feel normal. "Oh. Um, yes, I guess it's not been that bad…" I replied, my concentration returning to Edward.

"That's wonderful, dear. I'm so glad you're having a good time – your campers seem to have taken to you, especially the one named Sophie," Esme said, smiling sincerely at me.

"Yeah…Sophie's a good kid," I answered, my brow creased as I stared down at my half-empty tray.

"And the rest of you – I'm proud that you're doing so well. Alice, despite your earlier slip-up of opening an onsite store to supply designer clothing for your campers, I have to admit I'm impressed by your willingness to at least leave technology behind for the week. It shows you're able to adapt - even when you thought you couldn't," Carlisle said, gazing fondly around the table at his family.

"Well…there has been some adapting, and it's taken some work," Alice replied evasively, turning her head slightly away. I noticed from my position there was a brief glimpse of guilt that crossed her face.

"Well I think it's just great that –" Carlisle began, but was suddenly cut off as a fist slammed into the table, hard enough to get our attention, but not as to make the table disintegrate. My arms had been resting on the table, and a shower of pine needles drifted from my shoulders down onto the tray in front of me.

"Bella, you're shedding in your food," Emmett muttered, but nobody paid him any attention. The rest of us were all staring in surprise at the owner of the fist – Edward.

"Bella. Are you having an affair with Newton?" he asked in a hushed, urgent tone, his eyes dark and brooding.

Everyone stared in shocked silence at Edward – everyone, including myself. After a few moments, I was able to splutter a reply.

"Edward – what on earth are you talking about? I mean…_what_?" was my brilliant response, at a loss to come up with anything more coherent.

Edward leaned forward and sighed, his head hanging. "When I got close enough to you tonight, I noticed you had his scent all over you – at first it was masked slightly by the forest debris along with your own lovely scent, but then when I leaned closer to you it was unmistakable - even now it clings to your skin," he shuddered. "I tried to dismiss it, but as I sit here, his thoughts are practically screaming at me, driving me into insanity…all he's done is sit over there at that table, thinking over and over how wonderful it had felt to finally have his arms around you this afternoon, and how he should have kissed you while I wasn't around," he finished, his voice fading off into a quiet growl as he raised his gaze to stare at Mike again.

I reached out to grasp Edward's hands in mine. "Edward – you are letting him get to you too much. You know I belong to you and only you forever. We're getting married, remember? I'm guessing I smelt like him to you because he was helping me get free from the tree this afternoon, and he had to get pretty close. As far as his thoughts about kissing me – well, he can forget that ever happening, or I swear I'll hit him as hard as I hit Jake, and he's not a werewolf so it might just hurt," I said, anger flashing in my eyes at the mere thought of Mike even trying such a thing.

Edward slowly met my gaze, and when he looked into my eyes a small smile began to appear. "I'm so sorry Bella – I really don't know what's gotten into me. Can you forgive me?" he asked, looking slightly ashamed.

"There's nothing to forgive, Edward. You know I love you – and I'll tell you something else, you're not sitting out at that campfire all alone tonight. Listening to Mike's thoughts and us not being together while I sleep is definitely taking its toll on you – we'll figure something out," I said, leaning into his side. He put his arm around me, gently patting my pine needle-encrusted back.

The rest of the family pretended to carry on polite conversation, seemingly giving us our own moment to sort everything out. I don't know why they really bothered – I knew they were hanging on our every word, ensuring that everything was ok.

**A/N: Please remember to review! Just a couple more and we'll hit 300, yay!! Thanks!**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thanks for reading everyone! And of course thanks for the reviews! Don't worry about Edward in that last chapter - it's just that he hasn't been apart from Bella at night for some time, and now he's not even around her during a lot of the day either. Combine that with hearing Newton's thoughts continually and then smelling his scent all over her - he had a moment of weakness and freaked a little, but the second the words were out of his mouth he regretted it.**

_(Previously):_

_Edward slowly met my gaze, and when he looked into my eyes a small smile began to appear. "I'm so sorry Bella – I really don't know what's gotten into me. Can you forgive me?" he asked, looking slightly ashamed._

_"There's nothing to forgive, Edward. You know I love you – and I'll tell you something else, you're not sitting out at that campfire all alone tonight. Listening to Mike's thoughts and us not being together while I sleep is definitely taking its toll on you – we'll figure something out," I said, leaning into his side. He put his arm around me, gently patting my pine needle-encrusted back._

_The rest of the family pretended to carry on polite conversation, seemingly giving us our own moment to sort everything out. I don't know why they really bothered – I knew they were hanging on our every word, ensuring that everything was ok._

**Chapter 12:**

Back at camp, the others agreed to watch my group during free time so that I could go to the bathhouse and begin the long process of removing the layers of sticky residue from my body. It took quite some time to get the glue out of my hair, and as I stood at the sink scrubbing my clothes with the sap on them, I couldn't help but realize how tired I was. Thankfully, before I knew it free time had passed and we returned to the front of camp for dinner.

"You're looking much better Bella," Carlisle beamed at me. I looked up at him while chewing my chicken slowly, wondering what exactly I was supposed to say in response to that; sarcasm was getting harder and harder to suppress. Luckily, Emmett began speaking before I could come up with a reply.

"Tonight's the night Big Sue is stopping in to announce the contest for Saturday," Emmett said excitedly, his eyes gleaming in anticipation.

I glanced at Alice to see if she had any clues. She shook her head, and mumbled something about Sue being incredibly indecisive.

About ten minutes before dinner was scheduled to end, the door to the hall swung open and Sue came stomping in, heading straight to the podium. "Hey there, kids! Is everyone having a great time?"

Cheers broke out throughout the room. "That's good to hear! Well, as you all know, I'm here to announce the event chosen for Saturday. Problem is, I can't seem to decide, so I'm going to leave that up to you. I've narrowed it down to two choices – a cooking contest or a water balloon fight. Now, when I call out the one you want, raise your hand, all right? Counselors – let's leave this to the kids to decide, so no voting from you. Here we go – those who want a cooking contest, raise your hands," Sue said.

I glanced around, silently willing more kids to raise their hands. It wasn't a bad response, but I could tell far too many were still stuck on the words 'water balloon fight.' My fears were only further confirmed when she called out the second option, and a flurry of hands bobbed in the air, easily beating the number of votes for the cooking contest. Emmett pumped a fist in the air happily, and I sighed in defeat.

While Edward consoled me, Sue began speaking again. "Well, it looks like we'll be having that water balloon fight then! Now, I have a bit of a surprise regarding the carnival," she said, pausing. "I thought it might be fun to have the counselors have a mini-competition of their own for your entertainment. To kick things off at the carnival, they'll all be in a friendly water-jousting competition!" she exclaimed, smiling hugely.

"What? What does she mean, Edward?" I asked, scared at the idea of anything with the word 'jousting' involved.

Edward quickly explained what he understood from Sue's thoughts – when the previous owners held the annual carnival, they liked to start it with an event where the counselors competed against one another doing something that would be entertaining for the campers to watch. There was equipment set aside for various activity options, and Sue had chosen Water Jousting from the list she'd been left with. Crap – it just _sounded_ like a bad idea for the uncoordinated.

I glanced at Alice irritably, thinking that a warning would have been nice, but she must have been expecting it because she cut me off before I could open my mouth. "I wasn't exactly watching for something like that, ok Bella?" I lowered my gaze, feeling somewhat guilty.

"If all the counselors would see me briefly we'll sort out the carnival assignments," she finished. I really hoped she'd paid attention to the suggestion I'd previously submitted – I'd requested a refreshment station at the carnival. We all made our way to the podium, and she began handing out the sheets with our jobs for Saturday. I glanced down at the sheet in my hands: Popcorn cart attendant. Well thank goodness for small victories.

Later, after the nightly fire and story time had passed, thekids were in bed and I could relax. I'd passed out tokens to my group before they went to sleep to maintain my good standing with them, promising we'd go to cash them in soon. I'd asked Edward if his group had been to the little shop yet, or if anyone else had, and he said some had, but not all – his kids didn't seem to have much interest in it. Of course Rosalie's had gone – that was where all those pretty hair ribbons had come from.

I took my usual place next to Edward at the fire, and my mind switched gears. Leaning against his side I asked, "So what's everyone's assignments for the carnival? I'm supposed to be running a popcorn cart."

"Mind reader – I get to guess things, such as favorite colors, hobbies, ages, that type of thing," Edward smiled. Of course he'd suggested such a thing.

"Fortune teller – I get to guess the kids' futures," Alice beamed. I rolled my eyes, beginning to see a pattern.

"Strongest man – I get to try to pick up various things of different sizes," Emmett chuckled.

For a second I had to wonder if I was really marrying into a normal vampire family or if perhaps they were actually circus side-show freaks - there were suddenly a lot of similarities.

"Cotton candy cart – kids love cotton candy, right?" Rosalie said, as if afraid she'd volunteered for the wrong thing. Everyone nodded in response, and she relaxed.

"I'm painting faces," Angela said happily.

"I'm running a game stand – ring toss or something," Jessica answered in a monotone voice; she'd been pretty quiet ever since we'd arrived, and I couldn't help but think that she was irritated by our presence. After all, she'd likely only signed up for this camp thing to be near Mike, and he'd been chasing after me the whole time. If only she knew how gladly I would send him her way.

"I've got a game booth as well – basketball," Mike replied.

After everyone had revealed what their assignments were and their thoughts on them, the discussion slowly died down.

"Would anyone like to play cards? I brought a pack from home," Angela said.

Jessica shrugged. "You know me – I'd much rather be inside than out here – I'll play." As the two got up to head toward their cabin, Mike mumbled something about playing too and followed after them. He really didn't seem to like being surrounded by Cullens. It probably had something to do with the way Edward and Emmett kept taking turns glaring at him.

Suddenly a loud commotion erupted from Emmett's cabin. It sounded as if the bunks themselves were being overturned.

Edward looked pointedly at Emmett, while Rosalie turned abruptly and stared at Emmett's cabin.

"Emmett - what is that? Is there something wrong with your kids? What if they're arguing? Maybe I should help," Rosalie said as she stood up.

"_NO_ - no, that's not necessary, I'll check on them, sure it's just boys being boys - probably arm wrestling or something, you know," Emmett said, jumping up and moving quickly in the direction of his cabin. "Remember Rose, no girls in the guys' cabins," he added over his shoulder, obviously worried about her following after him.

Rosalie's eyes narrowed and she continued to stare after her husband. I couldn't even imagine what had gotten loose in that cabin this time - I didn't _want_ to imagine it.

"I don't suppose you're going to offer me any insight, are you?" Rosalie said, peering across the fire at Edward.

Edward leaned back and shrugged. "It's really none of my business, Rosalie." He turned back to me. "So, anyway -"

A string of curse words drifted out into the night, followed by more loud banging noises.

We all stared at Emmett's cabin again. Rosalie stood up and hissed under her breath, beginning to move in the direction of the cabin.

"Rosalie! Did you hear that? I think one of your kids is crying," Alice blurted out.

Rosalie paused, glancing over at her own cabin. "I don't hear anything, Alice ," she said, turning her focus back to Emmett's cabin.

"There it was again – I really think you should check on them – maybe the noises frightened one of them or something," Alice pressed.

That seemed to work. Rosalie hadn't heard anything, but the idea of one of her campers being upset was getting to her, and she _had_ to check to be sure. The second she disappeared into her cabin, Alice turned to Edward.

"You'd better get Emmett under control – do you have any idea how Rosalie will react if she finds out what's going on?" Alice whispered. "It's only going to take her a second to check on all her kids and realize nothing's wrong with any of them."

"Of course I do – there's only so much anyone can do to keep Emmett under control though, as you well know Alice ," Edward whispered back. "Anyway, he's managed to get things straightened out - for now anyway," he added, looking back in the direction of Emmett's cabin.

"Whatever. I'm going to Jasper's, he's waiting for me. Want to come with me, Bella?" Alice asked hopefully.

"Ugh. Not tonight, Alice – I'm suddenly exhausted. Sorry – maybe tomorrow," I added as I caught sight of her crestfallen expression.

"Which also means that you'd better get to bed soon," Edward said to me.

"You're right, wait here," I nodded in agreement as he watched me with a confused expression.

I pulled my blankets from my bed and began trudging back out to the campfire to join Edward. I'd said he wouldn't sit out there alone all night and I'd meant it. He stopped me at the bottom of the stairs.

"Bella, what do you think you're doing?" he asked.

"I'm sleeping outside with you tonight," I mumbled as if it were obvious. I tried to push past him but got nowhere. He began arguing about how I wouldn't be comfortable, how I might get cold, blah, blah, blah.

"We can stand here and argue about it all night if we have to Edward, but I'm not leaving you alone," I said. "Why can't you just go with Alice ?"

"Don't be ridiculous, you know I'm not leaving you here, and you going there isn't an option – even Alice could see that you need complete rest tonight." He paused, gazing steadily at me. "You're really not going to let this go, are you?" he asked, frustrated.

I simply shook my head as I crossed my arms stubbornly.

He sighed, and then smiled crookedly at me. "You're too adorable for your own good when you're upset, do you know that?" he whispered, pulling me into his arms. He took my hand in his and led me out to the fire, sitting down on the bench. I hopped up into his lap, wrapping myself in my blankets and settling in. I couldn't believe it – I'd finally won and gotten my way. I was still smiling as I drifted off to sleep only seconds later.

-------------------------

The shrill sound of the alarm screaming filled my ears, jerking me awake. Hang on - it's still completely dark outside...and that's not my alarm. I sat straight up in my bed, panicked. Wait a minute…my bed? I opened my eyes and looked around me. I was in my bed in the cabin. I hadn't gotten my way at all – he'd just placated me until I fell asleep then brought me back in here. Ugh **- **stupid vampire; stupid stubborn always-getting-his-way vampire. My mind snapped back to the reason I'd awoken as more piercing screams echoed outside our cabin - a lot of them. I stumbled to the light, switched it on, and saw all my campers huddled in their blankets, eyes wide with fear, staring at me.

"Wait here," I ordered, stepping out into the night. I tried to see what was happening, but it was still so dark, I had to move forward. I hadn't made it to the bottom step when Edward appeared directly in front of me.

"Bella, go back to sleep - it's nothing to worry about," he whispered. Why was he bothering to whisper when there was such loud terrified screaming going on?

"What the he - heck is going on here?" Rosalie's voice roared, emerging from the bathhouse with a frightened looking girl. She looked around, then scooped up the girl and began running toward her cabin - it was where all the screaming was coming from. They flew through the door, and I just stood and watched as the screaming continued. I noticed Mike, Jessica and Angela were also all awake now, standing on the porches of their cabins looking confused.

Something in the shadows over by Emmett's cabin caught my eye, and I began moving forward, trying to get closer to the fire pit to see what it was. As the light slightly increased my vision, I could tell it was Emmett and one of his kids. It looked like that Simon boy - the one with the guinea pigs. Rosalie hadn't even noticed them she was so focused on her hysterical campers.

Emmett was bent over, whispering to the boy. "Please little dude, you've got to help me out here - you have no idea what could happen to me. Please, man - just try to keep those things locked up - for me?" Emmett pleaded desperately.

The boy looked unconvinced. "But Mr. Emmett, don't you think they deserve their freedom? They're my best friends, and I just want them to be happy. Don't worry, they always come back after I've let them out - they love me," Simon said, his six-year-old voice full of reasoning.

Emmett grasped his head, frustrated. "That's not what I'm worried about - what I'm worried about is much more serious than that," he whispered back hurriedly. Suddenly Rosalie's cabin door opened, and her campers, quieter now, filed out onto the dark lawn in front of them. Rosalie remained inside the cabin, where I was fairly sure I heard some curse words being hissed.

Moments later her door slammed open again, and she emerged holding two guinea pigs - otherwise known as Sammy and Fred to some of us - in her hands at an awkward arms length away from her body, clearly disgusted. Her eyes roamed the crowd, and came to rest upon Emmett. She began crossing the yard slowly but purposefully.

Emmett gently pushed Simon back towards his cabin. "Too late...save yourself little man," he said under his breath. Simon looked back, his eyes wide, then turned and ran for the safety of the cabin. I had to admit, I didn't blame him - Rosalie looked positively deadly. She came to a stop directly in front of her husband.

"Emmett...I don't suppose you know where these two things might have come from?" she asked, her voice low and menacing.

Emmett shrugged unconvincingly. "The woods? We _are_ in the middle of nature, Rose, and nature _does_ tend to have animals in it," he added. Bad move.

"Tell me this then, Emmett - you have enough experience with hunting in the woods - does 'nature' usually consist of two guinea pigs with tiny little collars on them?" she hissed, moving even closer.

"Huh...no, no I don't suppose that it does," Emmett replied evasively. "That seems a bit strange, you finding something like that in your cabin. Maybe one of your kids brought them with them and didn't tell you?"

Rosalie merely growled in response, her arms shaking with fury, the two guinea pigs jiggling in her grasp. The poor things looked terrified.

"Right - unlikely. Sorry - hmm....probably a boy brought them. Have you asked Newton ? You never know what's going on with him, look at all he's done so far. For all we know, he could have brought them with him. You know how he is when he's attached to something," Emmett said, lowering his voice a bit and winking at her. She faltered for a moment, as if she were wondering if perhaps her husband was actually innocent in this. I had to admit, suddenly he was putting on quite the show.

Rosalie paused, still staring at Emmett. Edward sighed beside me, shaking his head in disbelief. A second later, Rosalie turned to look at Mike's cabin. He saw her glare, and looking confused but also a bit afraid he quickly retreated inside. That seemed to only make him look more suspicious her. She turned back to her husband.

"Emmett. Are you saying that you had nothing to do with these...oversized rodents getting into my cabin and scaring the life out of my kids?" she asked directly.

Emmett paused only for a second, then said, "I can assure you, Rose, that _I _had nothing to do with them getting into your cabin." Technically he was right - but I had the feeling that if Rosalie knew the full truth, Emmett would have some major issues.

Rosalie huffed in irritation, and Emmett stepped forward. "Babe, go back to your kids. Give me those and I'll make sure they get wherever it is they belong. I know you like to make sure your campers are tucked in and settled, and they do look rather upset. Go on - I'll take care of everything," he said lovingly, reaching his arms out for the two animals. "Besides, I don't think you're supposed to hold them quite so tight – their eyes are bugging out," he added as he took Sammy and Fred from her.

Although still slightly wary, a glance back at her kids made her make up her mind and she handed over the guinea pigs to Emmett, then hurried back to her cabin to get her girls back to bed. Unbelievable - Emmett got away with it - for now, anyway.

"I can't believe she accepted that excuse," I whispered to Edward in the dark.

"She's so distracted by her kids she's not sure she knows what's going on," Edward murmured. "Although, to Emmett's credit, if Rosalie would quit giving her kids Little Debbie snacks at night then Sam and Fred may not have wandered over to her cabin. The scent on the wrappers is more than likely what attracted them," he added.

Suddenly remembering I was mad at Edward for tricking me and putting me back in my bed, I turned on my heel and stomped back to my cabin, Edward's throaty chuckle surrounding me in the darkness. Finally, after assuring the members of my cabin that it was just something silly and that they had nothing to worry about, we were all able to drift back to sleep.

**A/N: Please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thanks for reading everyone, and thank you for reviewing! I really do appreciate it. :)**

_(Previously):_

_Rosalie huffed in irritation, and Emmett stepped forward. "Babe, go back to your kids. Give me those and I'll make sure they get wherever it is they belong. I know you like to make sure your campers are tucked in and settled, and they do look rather upset. Go on - I'll take care of everything," he said lovingly, reaching his arms out for the two animals. "Besides, I don't think you're supposed to hold them quite so tight – their eyes are bugging out," he added as he took Sammy and Fred from her._

_Although still slightly wary, a glance back at her kids made her make up her mind and she handed over the guinea pigs to Emmett, then hurried back to her cabin to get her girls back to bed. Unbelievable - Emmett got away with it - for now, anyway._

_"I can't believe she accepted that excuse," I whispered to Edward in the dark._

_"She's so distracted by her kids she's not sure she knows what's going on," Edward murmured. "Although, to Emmett's credit, if Rosalie would quit giving her kids Little Debbie snacks at night then Sam and Fred may not have wandered over to her cabin. The scent on the wrappers is more than likely what attracted them," he added._

_Suddenly remembering I was mad at Edward for tricking me and putting me back in my bed, I turned on my heel and stomped back to my cabin, Edward's throaty chuckle surrounding me in the darkness. Finally, after assuring the members of my cabin that it was just something silly and that they had nothing to worry about, we were all able to drift back to sleep._

**Chapter 13:**

When the alarm went off in the morning – the real alarm – I reluctantly stretched out in my bed, recalling the disrupting events of the night that had interrupted my sleep. As I got my campers up and ready, I focused on the day ahead. Today was another 'free day,' which meant we could choose our activities. I wondered what the kids would come up with for today.

I huffed past Edward when I led my group outside, who merely smiled at me in response. I was still grumpy with him for tricking me.

"Good morning Bella," he murmured, his eyes sparkling. He was amused – good for him. I continued leading my group to the flagpole as usual, rolling my eyes as The Incredible Hulk waved at us from the top, the kids all laughing right on cue. Seriously…did Mike really think there would be something cool about turning into a giant green thing? I was really starting to think he had major self esteem issues.

Everyone was present except for Emmett and his group, and after waiting for them for more than ten minutes, Rosalie insisted we proceed with the morning's ceremony and move on to breakfast – she refused to keep her campers waiting any longer.

We were just about through with the meal when Rosalie began hissing and cursing under her breath, and Carlisle suddenly dropped the fork and knife he'd been holding, the sounds of the useless props clattering against his tray. Jasper was cringing as he took in Rosalie's anger and Alice patted his head soothingly, while Edward merely sighed heavily. Confused, I followed their gazes to see what the problem was – that's when I saw them. Emmett and his campers had just entered the hall, but that wasn't the problem. The problem was that each and every kid in his group now had their little heads shaved into Mohawks. Rosalie's hands gripped the edges of the table, and the rest of us looked on in shocked silence.

Emmett was smiling widely, laughing along with his group. When he saw Rosalie's face, his expression faltered, and he quickly encouraged his campers to head to the food line to get their breakfast. He shoved his hands into his pockets; for a moment he looked as though he was considering running back out the doors, but then he slowly began making his way to our table. I glanced at Carlisle , expecting him to step in to prevent a huge argument from erupting, but he was still staring at the odd group of tiny punk-looking children, his mouth slightly open in shock. Clearly he was speechless. The sound of silverware plinking as it hit the ground signaled that the children had indeed arrived at the buffet and that Esme had just seen their new looks.

"OH. MY. GOD. Like, what is _that_ all about?" Jessica guffawed loudly from a nearby table as Mike snorted, making it clear the other human counselors had just seen the new development.

"Shhh, Jess – you don't want the kids to hear you, you could hurt their feelings," Angela hushed her, although I could hear a fair level of uncertainty in her voice too. I pursed my lips and glanced up at the ceiling, wondering exactly how many other bizarre things my future family would do while we were here that I would have to try and think up explanations for.

Emmett took his time reaching our table, but once he finally did he slowly and warily lowered himself into his chair while watching his wife out the corner of his eye, who was practically shaking in anger. The second he was seated, she leaned in close, whispering harshly.

"Emmett. What the hell did you do? What happened to their hair?" she hissed.

"What? I think it looks cool," Emmett began, but then thought better of it as Rosalie glowered at him. He held his hands up in front of himself defensively. "Ok, ok – well one of my campers was chewing gum last night and set it on his pillow before bed and it was stuck to the side of his head this morning," he continued. "He asked me for help, but I couldn't get the stuff out, and you guys had already left for breakfast so I figured I'd just shave the hair off. When I was done, I thought he looked kind of weird with just one side of his head bare, so I shaved the other side too - but I didn't see any reason to shave _all_ of it – he didn't want to be completely bald," Emmett explained as if it were completely rational.

We all continued to stare in silence as Rosalie fought to maintain her composure. "Well, did _all_ the kids in your group have gum in their hair?" she asked sarcastically.

"Of course not," Emmett replied.

Rosalie sighed irritably. "Well then - what the hell happened to them?!" she spat, her patience running out.

Emmett shrugged. "Obviously once they saw the cool haircut they all wanted one too. I didn't think it would be fair to say no." He glanced fleetingly over at me. "Sorry about your razors Bella, but I had to use the blades."

I rolled my eyes and glanced over in disbelief at Edward. Now I didn't have anything to shave with…gross. He placed his hand on the top of my knee reassuringly. I hoped he was appreciating the smoothness of my skin, because in a day or two it wouldn't feel like that anymore, thanks to Emmett.

Rosalie reached over and secured her hand under Emmett's chin, roughly pulling his face back around to meet hers. "You idiot, what exactly are you going to tell the parents when they come to pick their kids up?"

Emmett paused. "Err – we'll have to be there when they pick them up? I hadn't thought about that…" he trailed off, thinking. "Oh! I know – we'll just say they had lice," he said proudly, as if he'd thought of the most brilliant solution ever.

Rosalie narrowed her eyes again. "_Right_ – because lice would dictate the need to shave all of their heads aside from a stupid-looking strip down the middle."

Emmett looked around the table uncertainly as if hoping for help. We all stared in silence at him. Carlisle looked as if he were about to lose it next, which was an unusual thing to see.

"Look, I don't know – I'll figure it out, ok? Their hair grows back you know – it's not like ours," he mumbled, shifting his glance down to the table.

Rosalie exhaled loudly, shook her head and mumbled a few more curse words before she turned her attention back to the food she wouldn't be eating on her tray. When she finally got up to empty the tray, she glanced back at her husband once. "Emmett, I swear you'd better get your head straight and think about what you're doing – these are kids, not toys, got it?" she hissed quietly.

Emmett nodded his head silently in response, but once her back was turned I couldn't help but notice his gaze dart back over to where his group was sitting, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Carlisle sighed and left the mess hall without a word.

After breakfast everyone gathered back at the fire pit and suggestions on how to spend the day were being thrown about with no real agreement. Half of the kids wanted to go back to the lake, and the other half wanted to do something new. At this rate, we wouldn't get anywhere. At least the kids were mostly accepting of Emmett's campers' new appearance – the boys all seemed to think it was cool, while the girls thought they were weird, which didn't seem to bother the boys at anyway.

We were considering splitting up and doing different things for the day when suddenly Angela spoke up from behind us. "Why don't you guys have a scavenger hunt?" she suggested.

Silence filled the air for seconds as the kids thought about the suggestion, then almost instantaneously erupted in shouts of excitement. Clearly, it was a winning idea.

Alice clapped her hands excitedly and ran to her cabin to get some paper. We told the kids to play for a while so we could work out a list of items to find – each counselor wrote down two items each, and then we checked to make sure there were no duplicates.

Now,as we stood in the middle of the woods looking around warily, I had to wonder if I was leading my group to certain failure. The first few items on the list had been easy enough – various types of leaves, a pinecone, ten acorns – things that were simple to spot. Most of them had been right out in the open, practically calling out to us. I'd even managed to stop Sophie from nearly picking some poison ivy she thought was a Maple leaf – I had no problem identifying that stuff these days. Now as I looked down at the next item on the list, I had to wonder who was responsible for listing a four-leaf clover - this was going to take forever to find, and it was the last item we needed.

Voices to our left caught my attention, and I looked up from the grassy patch of weeds I'd been scouring through.

"You won't believe what I've found – come here, come here!" a kid's voice pleaded from within the trees.

"Ok, calm down, I'm coming – now what are you talking about?" Emmett said.

"This – look! He's all alone, and I just know we should help him. Look how cool he is – he has a tail!" the boy said. Now that I'd moved closer I could see them better, and could tell that it was Simon. "I think we should take him back with us."

"He was all alone? Are you sure? That seems unlikely…wonder if he got lost," Emmett murmured, hesitating. "Plus, I don't know if taking him is a good idea…" he added, looking around apprehensively.

I squinted to see what they were talking about. It was a turtle – a very large turtle. Since when was it unusual for a turtle to be alone? Emmett could be so bizarre sometimes.

"Why not? He'd love it – we could make a new area for him in the cabin. We could call it…" Simon trailed off, thinking.

"_Turtletopia_," Emmett said, nodding his head along with the boy. It was as if they were matched in thought. "I suppose we could move a couple kids' bunks outside – fresh air is good for kids, right?" he continued, his brow creased.

"Or we could just put it under my bunk – he could be my new friend!" Simon pleaded. "Sammy and Fred's cage is up on the bed with me – there's plenty of room under the bed."

Emmett glanced around again, and then turned back to the turtle. "Hey little buddy – what are you up to? Trying to get somewhere? Where's your family?" he asked, leaning over the turtle; it stopped moving.

"Well, what's the matter? Don't be scared, we won't hurt you," he continued. He reached down as if he were going to pick it up, when suddenly the turtle's head whipped around and snapped at him.

"Whoa – what are you doing, buddy? There's nothing to be afraid of," Emmett said, pulling his hand back in surprise. I rolled my eyes – like the turtle would even remotely hurt him – it was more likely to break its jaw on Emmett's hand.

He reached his hand toward the turtle again, and again it snapped at him.

"_Hey_! Why are you doing this to me? I'm trying to help you – don't you want me to help you? Come on now, be reasonable," Emmett muttered, bending back towards the reptile.

"Maybe it doesn't like us," Simon whispered, his eyes full of sadness.

Emmett looked at the kid, his brow furrowed in thought. "No, that can't be it…that doesn't make any sense. Of course he likes us – he's just confused, that's all."

A slight rustling next to me caught my attention. "Ridiculous, isn't it? I really don't know why he continues with such behavior…he's pushing his luck, really. Now he's as bad as the kid – he can't seem to accept that the turtle wants nothing to do with him," Edward murmured quietly beside me.

I jumped in surprise. "Edward! You scared me – where did you come from?" I asked.

Edward grinned crookedly at me. "My group has been following yours pretty much the whole time so I could keep an eye on you, Bella."

"Oh – what, really? I didn't see you at all," I said, dazed.

"We stayed far enough back to remain out of sight – I didn't want to distract you or your group – they looked like they were having fun," he said, still smiling.

I nodded, my gaze turning back to Emmett and the turtle. He was still trying in vain to pick it up, still pulling his hand back every time it snapped at him. After about the tenth time, he sighed in frustration. He began to lean over again, but as he did the acorns he'd collected fell out of his pocket and scattered on the ground behind him. He turned around, and with his back to the turtle he squatted down to collect them.

Simon gasped and his eyes got very wide. The turtle had whipped its head around and snapped again, this time successfully latching onto the back hem of Emmett's shirt. Unaware that anything had happened, Emmett stood up and turned back to where the turtle had been a minute ago.

"Where did it go? Turtles aren't very fast, he couldn't have just run away," Emmett said, scratching his head. Simon just stared, and was about to say something when Emmett held up his hand signaling him to be quiet. He listened for a moment, and then whispered, "Hold that thought, little dude, Counselor Rosalie is coming and you know what I've told you about animal talk around her."

Simon gulped and nodded, running off to rejoin the other members of his group who were still searching for items on their list.

"Emmett," Rosalie said, coming into view. Her campers were just behind her, searching the ground for something – probably one of those stupid four-leaf clovers that were impossible to find. "We were out in the woods, and we came upon the oddest thing," she continued, her arms crossed against her chest.

"What's that, babe?" he asked, casually leaning his arm against a tree. His eyes did another quick sweep of the area, most likely checking for the turtle again. It was funny that he didn't feel the weight of it pulling on his shirt, but then again I suppose to someone so strong it wouldn't be that noticeable – that and he was preoccupied by the threat that was Rosalie.

"Well, we found a strange looking tree and there were all these miscellaneous items stuffed inside it – one of my campers told me it's the tree that is referred to as The Great Forest Fairy, a sort of 'camp mascot' or something. I think I recall Sue mentioning it…but surely nobody would actually believe in such a thing, right?" she asked, her eyebrows raised. The way she shifted her stance slightly and tilted her head to the side made it clear she was testing him. "I don't suppose you know anything about it, or about how half of my kids' hair accessories that I've been searching for were stashed inside it, do you?" she asked evenly. Her eyes were narrowed into threatening slits, but as she had her back to her kids, they'd never know it. She was keeping her voice calm for their benefit, but anyone that knew her could tell she was anything but.

"Hmm…Great Forest Fairy? Sounds like a bunch of nonsense if you ask me. I think this place is getting to you Rose. I'd forget about it if I were you – kids come up with the oddest things. If you want, I'll come back out with you later and help collect the things that belong to you," he said hurriedly, trying to figure out how to best placate her while resolving the issue. He looked flustered and a bit frustrated as well; without waiting for a reply from his wife, he turned to go back to his group, the snapping turtle hanging from his backside, swinging from side to side.

"Emmett," Rosalie hissed, causing him to freeze in his tracks. "Why do you have a turtle attached to your butt?"

At precisely that same moment, one of Rosalie's campers squealed in delight and raced towards her, jumping up into her arms. "Look Miss Rosie! I found a four-leaf clover! I'll be lucky forever and ever and ever!"

Rosalie caught the excited girl in her arms, forced to let the issue with Emmett drop. He saw his chance and began moving away from her.

"Don't you worry about me, Rose – it must have snuck up on me when we were collecting things. Snapping turtles can be very tricky, you know. I'll remove it and see that it gets back to where it needs to be. Thanks for pointing it out though, that's really odd," he said, disappearing from view as quickly as he could.

"How is it possible he's managed to stay married to her so long?" Edward said so quietly it was as if he was talking to himself. Then he turned to face me. "I'll see you soon," he whispered into my ear, his lips slightly brushing against me. He began to move past me, turning in the direction of his kids. As he did his hand grasped mine momentarily. "I think you've been looking for one of these, love."

Still feeling the effect of his lips so close to my skin, I forced myself to focus and looked down into my hand, which was now holding a four-leaf clover. How had he found one so easily? Wait – had he been finding all of our items on the list and putting them in obvious places so we'd find them easily? As if reading my mind, he glanced over his shoulder and winked at me.

**A/N: Now don't start yelling about Jasper's cabin, lol - it's still daytime! Plus, a lot of the things at Jasper's will happen near the end of the story...so is that what you're all saying, that you want it to end? Lol. Please review.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thanks for reading! I know this chapter is a little shorter and I'm sorry, I am throwing a baby shower for someone tomorrow and it's a miracle I managed to even get this done today. **

**Chapter 14:**

When everyone had returned back to the campsite, the lists were checked with the collected items, along with what order the groups had returned, and Alice's group was declared the winner. They clapped excitedly as Alice tossed a bunch of silver tokens in the air around them as their reward. At least all the other campers had enjoyed themselves, and after lunch they were eager to settle in at their cabins or outside to recount the day's events with one another or to catch up with their friends.

Despite my own personal wariness about combining the words shopping and Alice in the same sentence, I decided I had better take the opportunity to lead my campers to the little shop to cash their tokens in; I'd put it off long enough. Of course Alice's group followed us there, probably making their second trip of the day to the shop at the rate she passed those tokens out.

When we arrived at the little whitewashed building, Alice and her kids bounded past us and ran right in. My group followed and once inside we paused in amazement at the sight surrounding us. The walls were all lined with racks of little clothes, all organized by color, one side girls and one side boys. In the center of the shop was a table containing all kinds of accessories – hair ribbons, barrettes, clips, belts, socks, and bows. Twinkle lights draped from the ceiling giving the small room a magical feel; I noticed more than a few of my campers were still blinking, trying to take it all in.

Alice's group was crowded around the rack of light yellow clothes, pointing and exclaiming over their desired selections excitedly as they passed Alice their tokens.

"So, um…do you guys see anything you want?" I asked, still adjusting to the atmosphere. None of my girls seemed very interested in the clothes or accessories. I had to wonder what the boys that had been here had thought – then I realized that was probably why they didn't bother coming here much. Boys – especially this young – just weren't interested in shopping for much of anything that didn't involve toys.

"Alice, is there anything here aside from clothes and stuff? You know…maybe some crayons, or paper - something of that sort?" I asked, knowing from my campers' hobbies their parents had listed on their information sheets they'd most likely prefer something along those lines.

Alice sighed as she crossed her arms. She paused, looking back and forth from my campers to me as if trying to assess how long it would take her to change their personalities. After a minute or two she must have decided it would be more trouble than what it was worth, and she dropped her arms to her side in defeat.

"You're as bad as the boys, Bella. Hold on," Alice said as she leaned over and pulled out a box from under the accessories table and brought it over to us. "I just knew your group would be this way," she whispered quietly enough so that only I heard. "You girls might find something in here you like," she added louder, setting the box down.

Inside were all kinds of stickers, coloring books, crayons, paper, and other things like jacks and card games, such as Uno and Go Fish. At least she'd taken the other kids into consideration when stocking her little shop. Thankfully my campers found items that suited them quickly and we left Alice and her group to return to the campsite. Much to my relief my campers seemed happy with their 'purchases' and not all that eager to return to the shop anytime real soon. They were kids after my own heart.

Considering the realization that my team had been helped all the way through the scavenger hunt and we _still_ hadn't won, I was more than eager for the day to end. I was grateful to Edward for trying to help us but still a bit disgruntled with the results, which meant I was more than happy that dinner progressed with mostly the others recounting the day's events to Carlisle and Esme. Of course I joined in when needed and added things here and there, but more than anything I just wanted to get my campers to bed and have some quiet time with Edward before I had to succumb to sleep myself. Rosalie was regarding Emmett suspiciously since the turtle episode, but the conversation kept veering back to the kids and the fun they'd had which kept her distracted. As she told Carlisle and Esme her camper's excitement of finding the four-leaf clover, her eyes shone with sheer bliss. They smiled back at her sharing her moment of happiness, although there was also a hint of regret in Carlisle's expression. Given the selfless compassionate person he was, I could only imagine he was questioning his choice in saving Rosalie, as he had often done with Edward. Having heard Rosalie's history and what had happened to her, I couldn't believe he could even think for a second it would have been better if he'd left her to die. Sometimes the man was simply just too hard on himself.

The scavenger hunt seemed to have tired the kid out, and they didn't take long to get settled in after the nightly campfire festivities. After all they were all in bed, the rest of us gathered back around the campfire except for Rosalie – she was still in her cabin, finishing another story for her kids. I wasn't quite as tired as I usually was and I wanted to be able to spend some time with Edward – we hadn't had a lot of together time since we'd been here, or at least not nearly as much as we're used to. Mike didn't appear too eager to stay up with us; it seemed a day of trudging through the woods and sifting through the dirt for miscellaneous items had taken its toll on him. Angela had already turned in, admitting she was very much drawn into a book she simply couldn't put down. I'd smiled understandingly as she'd headed to her cabin – I knew how that felt. The second Mike got up to head off to bed Jessica went running as well, apparently anything but eager to sit around with me and the Cullens.

Mike was almost to his cabin when Emmett called out to him. "Hey Mikey – you didn't go anywhere near that stream that runs through the north side of the woods today, did you?" he asked seriously.

Mike paused, looking over his shoulder. "Uh…yeah, I guess I did, why?"

"You did?" Emmett said, his eyes widening. "Oh – well surely you didn't get in the water, right? I mean, you didn't go into the actual stream, of course," he added. Even though it was dark out, I didn't miss the wink he threw in Edward's direction.

Now Mike turned fully around, giving Emmett all of his attention. "What if I did? Is there some kind of problem with it? I had to rinse my hands off after digging through the dirt for those stupid things on the list – what's it matter to you?" he asked uncertainly.

"Oh! Well I'm sure it's nothing to worry about – you know, you should be just fine," Emmett answered, doubt written all over his face.

Mike stepped forward more. "What are you talking about, Cullen? What's the problem?" he asked, becoming irritated.

"Well, I can't believe you didn't hear about it in the news before you came to camp," Emmett started. "There's some sort of nasty flesh-eating virus that got into that stream. Thank goodness it doesn't run into the lake where the kids swim. You say you washed your hands in it, huh? Ah – you should be fine. You probably would have felt something by now if you'd been infected…although I have heard it can take up to twenty-four hours for symptoms to show up…to start feeling the stinging pains and the tearing at your skin…oh well – have a good night, then," Emmett finished, turning back to the fire.

Mike paused. "There's no way that's true - Sue would have warned us when we got here, and she didn't say anything about it," he said, his voice cracking slightly.

"I'm sure you're right – can't be true. Probably just rumors," Emmett murmured, while making a display of shaking his head at the rest of us.

Hesitating for another moment, Mike seemed unsure of what to do, but then he turned back to his cabin and began to fade into the darkness. He turned around a couple of times, as if he were going to say something, but then kept moving. After he was completely gone I turned to Emmett.

"What the heck are you doing, trying to give him permanent nightmares? We should really just re-name this camp to 'Let's make Mike Newton miserable,' I hissed, once again feeling pity for the guy.

"That does have a certain ring to it," Edward murmured almost to himself as he gently stroked my hair.

"Well, after what Edward told me today about what he'd been thinking during your little kite episode, I couldn't help myself. Besides – that was nothing. That was only planting the seed of insanity," Emmett laughed, glancing back at Edward.

Just then Rosalie came out of her cabin and joined us, and Emmett moved over so she could sit next to him.

"Edward, what is he going on about?" I asked.

Edward fought to suppress a grin. "Let's just say that he's found an interesting way to get Newton out of bed in the morning," he began.

"All right, the humans are in bed – most of them anyway," Alice interrupted, smiling at me, "which means that I'm off to Jasper's – you guys can carry on constructing plans for the demise of Mike Newton, but I'm tired of it. Bella – I don't suppose you're going to come with me tonight?" she asked half-heartedly, her eyes wide with hope.

I paused, considering my options. True, there was the chance I wouldn't get any sleep at all if I went with Alice, but if I stayed here, Edward might go insane scheming over Mike. Ok, maybe that was exaggerating, but I knew he wouldn't agree to me staying with him since last night he'd tricked me, and I really was worried about him. He needed to get away, and if I stayed, he'd stay.

Alice's focus blurred, and then her eyes gleamed with anticipation in my direction.

"No – absolutely not, Bella, you're exhausted, and you're not going," Edward said, having watched Alice's vision of my decision.

"I'm afraid I am, Edward, which leaves you with a choice – either come with us or stay here and think about Mike all night," I replied with certainty, linking arms with Alice who was hopping up and down, causing me to bounce in place.

"What if your campers wake up? You need to be here for them," he tried to argue.

"I'll take care of them," Rosalie said. "I can always say Bella isn't feeling well, and that I'm watching them in her place. Same goes for your campers, Edward – if any of them have a problem, I'll drag Newton out of bed and tell him you're sick and he has to deal with it. Bella's right, you really need to get away from here for a night."

"Sure, just tell them they have diarrhea," Emmett said cheerfully. "No one will bother you then – trust me," he added. I immediately flushed a million shades of red, turning my face away so Edward couldn't see me.

Edward sighed, clearly defeated. "Shut up, Emmett." Pinching the bridge of his nose, he closed his eyes. "All right, I'll go. But she'd better get some sleep tonight Alice, or you'll be sorry," he muttered under his breath.

"Great – now we'll all be happy," I replied, eager to get away from Emmett before he started with the comments again. "Let me grab my toiletries bag and we can go. Alice – Jasper does have a bathroom, doesn't he?" I asked; it's not like he needed it, but surely a normal camp employee would need one.

"He certainly does, Bella. I think you'll be pleased," Alice replied, beaming happily at me.

"Awesome – about time you decide to have fun," Emmett said, slapping Edward on the back. "Let's go, the girls can catch up." Emmett began dragging Edward off in the direction of Jasper's, while Edward looked worriedly over his shoulder at me.

I waved him on promising we were right behind them, and went to collect my overnight things. I refused to let Alice's over-exuberant nature make me nervous – after all, if Edward was able to have peace of mind for the night, anything would be worth it.

**A/N: Please take a moment to leave a review! Thanks! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing! We're finally off to Jasper's for the first time! **

_(Previously):_

_Edward sighed, clearly defeated. "All right, I'll go. But she'd better get some sleep tonight Alice, or you'll be sorry," he muttered under his breath._

_"Great – now we'll all be happy," I replied, eager to get away from Emmett before he started with the comments again. "Let me grab my toiletries bag and we can go. Alice – Jasper does have a bathroom, doesn't he?" I asked; it's not like he needed it, but surely a normal camp employee would need one. _

_"He certainly does, Bella. I think you'll be pleased," Alice replied, beaming happily at me. _

_"Awesome – about time you decide to have fun," Emmett said, slapping Edward on the back. "Let's go, the girls can catch up." Emmett began dragging Edward off in the direction of Jasper's, while Edward looked worriedly over his shoulder at me. _

_I waved him on promising we were right behind them, and went to collect my overnight things. I refused to let Alice's over-exuberant nature make me nervous – after all, if Edward was able to have peace of mind for the night, anything would be worth it._

**Chapter 15:**

As we approached Jasper's cabin, only a faint light came from underneath the drawn blinds. Its dank exterior still looked as uninviting as always. Pausing, I noticed a pulsing under my feet, as if the ground had a heart that was beating – how incredibly odd. When I raised my glance back up to the cabin, it revealed no new hint to as of why the air was still but the ground trembled. While Alice continued forward, I cautiously followed, glancing around uncertainly.

Alice opened the door, and I actually squeezed my eyes shut, almost afraid of what I would see on the other side. When I cracked one eye open, I was more than a little surprised – it was merely a dark, dingy room with an assortment of old, dusty furniture, the only source of light coming from a rickety-looking lamp that was sitting atop a shabby end table. I don't know what I was expecting, but this definitely wasn't it. My confusion only increased as I glanced over at Alice, who was beaming with pride.

"Err… Alice? Don't get me wrong, um, I think it's great if you're starting to appreciate the simpler things in life, but well…it's a bit unlikely for you to be so happy about it…" I trailed off, unsure of what to say. I glanced down at my feet trying to understand the weird sensation I was still feeling – were we going to have an earthquake?

"Bella, do you know what used to be here instead of a campground?" she asked, still grinning.

I shook my head in response.

"Years and years ago, this entire plot of land – all thirty acres of it – used to be a winery," Alice said, as if that explained everything.

"Ok…but I don't see what that has to do with anything - unless you've found an old stash of wine and discovered a way for alcohol to somehow affect your vampire systems?" I replied sarcastically – it would account for her odd behavior at least.

Alice's bell-like laughter filled the air around us. "Of course not Bella – don't be ridiculous. Come with me, I want to show you something," she added, pulling me through the musty room toward the back of the cabin. The rest of it looked to be in much the same condition as the front room – there was a tiny kitchenette area that looked as though it hadn't been used in quite some time, full of rusty cans with faded labels. Off to the left of that there was a tiny bathroom that looked to be no larger than a small closet. I was beginning to miss my bunk back in my cabin – at least it was clean. Alice came to an abrupt stop in the narrow hallway between the living area and the kitchen, and then motioned for me to step back a bit.

She daintily kicked aside a small braided rug from the center of the floor, and I coughed at the dust that rose into the air. Alice smiled apologetically at me, then leaned over and pulled up the floorboards – or at least that's what I thought she did, until I noticed it was actually a trap door that had been hidden under the rug.

The second that small door opened, an overly sweet smell permeated the air, and muffled sounds floated up to us, one of which I could have sworn resembled a "Woot!"

Alice waved at the hole in the ground, encouraging me to climb in. I couldn't help but recall the last time I'd jumped into a dark hole in the ground in Volterra, and I shuddered at the memory.

"Go on, Bella – there's a ladder you climb down, you'll be fine," Alice insisted, nudging me toward the opening. Glancing around the dust-ridden living space around me, I begrudgingly crept forward. With my hands firmly grasping the old ladder's sides, I awkwardly began my descent.

As I got lower and lower, traces of faint light began to fill the space. Just when I thought I had to be close to the bottom, strong cold hands gripped the sides of my waist and pulled me from the ladder. I fought the urge to scream out in terror just as Edward murmured into my ear.

"It's about time, love – I've been waiting for you," he said, removing any paranoid thoughts of scary things in dark basements.

"Edward! Do you always have to move so quietly? You scared me - this whole set-up has 'terrifyingmurder movie' written all over it; you could have warned me you were there," I huffed, feeling silly for being so on edge.

"I'm sorry Bella, but I didn't want to frighten you by calling out – you didn't look exactly stable on that ladder. You were shaking the whole way down," he replied, brushing the hair back from my face, his cool fingertips leaving a trail of fire across my cheek.

"It doesn't matter – I'm here now, and you're here now, and we can finally spend some time together," I said, hopping up into his arms. He chuckled at my sudden change in demeanor and carefully swung my legs up into his arms so he could fully carry me.

"So why does Alice have us hanging out in some dark basement?" I asked, trying to look around. There was still only a faint light filling the space, and I couldn't see very far. "And where is all that noise coming from?" I added, focusing back on the odd mixture of muffled sounds again. The pulsing I'd felt under my feet earlier now seemed to be coming from the rough surfaces of the walls.

"You'll see – go on Edward, lead the way," Alice said, appearing suddenly at our side. Her sudden presence made me jump a bit; apparently I was still feeling slightly edgy about this place.

Edward began walking down what looked like a tunnel of sorts, which was gradually growing wider. The further we went, the more the light and noise increased. Suddenly, Edward turned sharply to the left, and stopped at an old wooden door. He reached out and just before opening it, turned and smiled at me. "You'll find this to be interesting," he murmured.

He pulled the door open, and as the bright light blinded me, I gasped. Blinking furiously, I fought to take in this massive room and everything within it.

The rough, old stone floor was covered in a plush flokati rug, and the walls were lined with soft inviting sectional sofas. Vases containing fresh flowers covered sleek end tables, and fashion magazines of all kinds lay scattered across the coffee table. A complicated-looking stereo system stood in the far corner, music blaring from its speakers – the loud bass was apparently accountable for the pulsing sensations I'd felt upstairs. Standing in front of the back wall stood a massive television, with an assortment of video games scattered on the ground in front of it. Emmett and Jasper were there, and as I noticed the racing motorcycles on the screen, I understood the odd sounds from before.

I turned to Edward, my gaze questioning. I didn't even know what to say…I was speechless. Fortunately for me, Edward recognized the look on my face and began to explain.

"This room – or cavern, really – used to be home to the winery's fermentation process, and where the aging wine was stored in barrels. Their specialty wine was a 'Catawba' – sickly sweet stuff I'd guess by the smell that still lingers. Alice discovered it the day before we were scheduled to arrive – upon completion of her 'shop,' she'd been seriously contemplating tearing the whole cabin upstairs down and starting from point one, when the sweet smell caught her attention. When she found this room, she realized it was a much better option to leave the upstairs alone and just work with this – far less noticeable. It was mostly empty down here aside from a few scattered items left behind. Due to the living accommodations above, running electricity and plumbing down here was relatively easy – Jasper had it done on the first night after Alice 's discovery. Remember the Blackberry Alice …well, taped to her stomach? Yes, well she started ordering things from home right before we left to come here, and since she has internet access on her Blackberry, she's been busy ever since. Pretty much anytime she or Jasper have said the words, 'it was in the shed,' translates to ' Alice ordered it and had it delivered in the middle of the night when nobody would see the truck,'" Edward said, trying to suppress a grin. "There's a back road that approaches this end of the campgrounds, one that doesn't pass near the front – so Carlisle wouldn't even notice it. She paid ridiculous fees in order to ensure confidential delivery."

Sadly, this really didn't surprise me by now. There were a few problems that seemed fairly obvious to me though, like what would happen when camp was over.

"What are they going to do with all this stuff when we leave? They can't leave it here – even Sue isn't crazy enough to think all of this was in here the whole time, regardless of how long it's been since she's been inside this cabin; she or someone else could find it someday. Surely Alice doesn't think she can take it back home – Carlisle will be so upset," I added, my brow creasing in confusion.

"Jasper's going to make an anonymous drop-off donation to the local Goodwill. That way they can enjoy the comforts of home while they're here, then offer them to the less fortunate, all while not getting caught," Edward explained knowingly. "Sue isn't even aware that this space is down here, but they're still going to remove any traces of their much-improved living environment."

"Oh…wait – how did they get all this down here? There's no way that TV or those couches fit through that trapdoor we just came through," I asked.

"If you turn off to the right instead of coming through the door to this room, the tunnel continues to widen and rise – it leads to a large cellar door that comes out of the ground in the woods. They used to move the wine barrels out of here from that path – the trap door from the house was for people only. That cabin used to be a sort of office where they kept track of inventory," Edward explained.

"Bella! Come here – you're missing the best part of the whole place," Alice interrupted, pulling me from Edward's arms. She dragged me to the back of the room, where there was another wooden door. When she pushed it open, I think my jaw hit the floor.

What looked like it used to be a large storage closet had been transformed into a spa-like retreat. The entire floor was covered in slate tile with a drain in the middle; directly above it, a giant rain showerhead hung from the ceiling. There were ferns of varying types placed along the walls and even hanging from the ceilings somehow. It was a completely open shower surrounded by plant life, and suddenly all I wanted to do was shove Alice from the room so I could use it. I hadn't realized how tiny and musty the showers in the bathhouses were – not until I saw this.

Alice pointed to the back corner of the room. "Just past that little partition is a toilet – I had Jasper install it in case you came to hang out," she said proudly.

For a brief moment I contemplated mortification over that fact, but then as I glanced back at the gorgeous shower area I shrugged it off. I was used to them being highly aware of my…human needs by now. My eyes continued to roam over the space, truly appreciating the effort put into the transformation. There was even a cute little table in the corner which had neat stacks of crisp white towels folded on top of it. Bins set underneath it seemed to be stocked full of various beauty products.

"Alice, how are you going to explain this beautiful bathroom if someone finds it?" I murmured, still looking around in wonder.

Alice shrugged. "We're just going to plaster over the door – it will be next to impossible to notice. By the time someone does – if that ever happens – there's no way they could figure out who built it anyway. Besides, who would argue if they found this? I know I wouldn't, would you?" she asked.

I shook my head in response. There was no way I would argue with finding this room anywhere – I'd just thank whatever stroke of luck I'd had in discovering it.

"Would you like to use the shower, Bella?" she asked, smiling up at me knowingly, already moving towards the exit; she knew my answer of course**. **

Completely unashamed, I nodded and eagerly shut the door behind her. She murmured something about checking the bins under the table before starting the shower, so I did, and I almost ran back out to hug her – there was a package of brand new disposable razors in one of them. I reminded myself to be more thankful of Alice 's uncanny habit of packing things for my human needs…without her, my legs would have been seriously prickly by the time camp was over.

The hot water felt divine…something about the openness of the room made it so much better than the bathhouses. Perhaps it was because I didn't have to balance precariously on one foot, while holding onto the mildew-covered shower stall in an effort not to fall while shaving my legs. There was just so much room here, and with the combination of steam and lush plants surrounding me, it almost felt as if I were standing outside in a rainstorm. I contemplated being angry with Edward for keeping us from this heaven for the past few days, but I knew it would be selfish of me - he just wanted me to get some sleep after all, and when surrounded by his siblings you never knew what would happen. As always, he was merely doing what he thought was best for me...even if _I _thought this shower was worth more than sleep itself.

After I don't know how long, a dull thud came from the door. "Bella…are you all right in there? You've been in there for an hour," Edward questioned from the other side of the door.

I jumped at his voice, and clutched at a towel that was folded on a nearby table. "Be right out, Edward!" I yelped. Had I really been in here an hour? I guess I'd lost track of time. As I took in my shriveled skin I realized he must be right.

After emerging from the shower, I joined Edward on one of the plush couches. I curled up next to him, surrounded by an assortment of fluffy throw pillows; I felt so relaxed I was sure I would fall asleep in no time. Before I forgot, I looked over at Jasper.

"That's a wonderful bathroom, Jasper," I mumbled, stretching luxuriously and letting the rest of my weight settle onto Edward – the coolness of his skin was refreshing after my hour long rainforest experience, he easily leaned back to accommodate me, pulling a blanket off the back of the couch as he did.

Jasper smiled back at me and nodded. "I'm glad you like it, Bella."

As I rest my head on Edward's chest, I took notice of the conversation around me - he and Emmett appeared to be discussing the afternoon's events.

"All I'm saying Emmett, is that you'd better get that kleptomaniac kid under control before he takes even more things. Rosalie isn't the only one who's been missing stuff – he's been sneaking into Angela and Jessica's cabin and taking items from them too," Edward said irritably.

"I've got enough going on that I can't constantly monitor every little thing each and every one of them is doing. Besides, the last thing I want to do is make the Fairy angry at me," Emmett replied. "Rose said she was going to go back and collect all the stuff tonight anyway, so it's over. I just know something bad will happen to me now – you shouldn't mess around with spiritual things."

Edward just sighed and turned his head towards me, placing a gentle kiss on my forehead in a delayed sort of greeting. Apparently he was giving up on the conversation.

The soft give of the upholstery near my feet signaled Alice's presence. "Now that you're all refreshed, you can help me with my work," she trilled happily.

"What work could you possibly have to do, Alice?" I replied sleepily, while Edward glared at her.

Alice rolled her eyes and began spreading a ridiculous amount of paperwork out in front of her, the sheets slowly creeping up to cover my body. "Inventory, of course – I've got to restock supplies before morning."

"Hey Alice, did you get my special order taken care of? It's pretty important," Emmett asked, his demeanor suddenly serious.

"Yes, Emmett I did. Those…_things_ will be here tomorrow afternoon, and I should have them unpacked for you to pick up on Sunday morning. I had to really push for a Saturday delivery, you know. What a waste for something so…ridiculous," she added, shaking her head.

"Ridiculous? More like _brilliant_ – you should hire me as Assistant Manager of your shop - I know what's cool, not to mention I clearly know how to solve a problem," Emmett deduced. What had he ordered? Perhaps it was best to leave it alone.

Alice was shaking her head in disagreement, and as the paperwork began to consume my feet and then my legs, I willed myself to ignore it and instead focus on Edward's velvety voice which was encouraging me to fall asleep as he fought to push the papers back at his sister.

**A/N: Please leave a review - I'm sorry I haven't replied to a lot of them; I've been really busy, but please know that I read each and every one of them, and it means a great deal that you take the time to write them!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Thanks for reading everyone. Here's the next installment!**

_(Previously):_

_The soft give of the upholstery near my feet signaled Alice's presence. "Now that you're all refreshed, you can help me with my work," she trilled happily._

_"What work could you possibly have to do, Alice?" I replied sleepily, while Edward glared at her._

_Alice rolled her eyes and began spreading a ridiculous amount of paperwork out in front of her, the sheets slowly creeping up to cover my body. "Inventory, of course – I've got to restock supplies before morning."_

_"Hey Alice, did you get my special order taken care of? It's pretty important," Emmett asked, his demeanor suddenly serious._

_"Yes, Emmett I did. Those…things will be here tomorrow afternoon, and I should have them unpacked for you to pick up on Sunday morning. I had to really push for a Saturday delivery, you know. What a waste for something so…ridiculous," she added, shaking her head._

_"Ridiculous? More like brilliant – you should hire me as Assistant Manager of your shop - I know what's cool, not to mention I clearly know how to solve a problem," Emmett deduced. What had he ordered? Perhaps it was best to leave it alone._

_Alice was shaking her head in disagreement, and as the paperwork began to consume my feet and then my legs, I willed myself to ignore it and instead focus on Edward's velvety voice which was encouraging me to fall asleep as he fought to push the papers back at his sister._

**Chapter 16:**

When Edward woke me the following morning, I was a little tired but still thankful for his close proximity. As expected my sleep had been fairly restless with all the noise around me, including Edward's own relentless pleas to his siblings to keep it down. My mind had drifted in and out of consciousness as the surrounding scene unfolded repeatedly in an endless cycle: Emmett and Jasper fighting about who won what game, Edward trying to hush them, the sound levels from the electronics going up and down as he tried to fight his brothers for control of the assorted remotes, Alice in turn hushing Edward explaining he was just making it worse, and Edward telling Alice to go back to her Inventory duties - repeat. All things considered, it could have been much worse than it was…perhaps Alice had reigned herself in so that Edward wouldn't argue if I wanted to come back. Regardless, at least I'd been able to lie next to him last night, even though the constant presence of his family meant I couldn't really take any real advantage of our allotted time together.

As promised, we reached the campsite early enough the next morning before anyone else was up yet – well asidefrom those that never sleep anyway. As we entered the clearing, Emmett glanced up from his place on one of the benches surrounding the fire pit. "Glad to see you all made it in time," he began, glancing over at Mike's cabin. "The show's just about to begin," he said as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

"Go on inside, Bella – you should be there when your campers wake up," Edward murmured, his gaze settling on Mike's cabin. He gently pushed me toward my cabin, and I proceeded forward wondering what on earth they were up to. Alice had already disappeared into her cabin, and Rosalie must have done the same, as she was nowhere in sight.

I was just standing next to my bed pulling the covers up, pretending to make a bed I'd never slept in when a terrified scream made me jump, ruffling any progress I'd made with the bed sheets.

"Arrrrgggggghhhhhhh!!" a voice cried out from outside.

Pairs of bleary eyes opened one by one, looking around in confusion trying to figure out what had awoken them.

"Good morning girls. Just stay here, I'll go see what the commotion is _this_ time," I smiled and rolled my eyes, hoping to ease their minds.

Arms across my chest, I headed out onto the porch to take in what I could only assume was Emmett's latest plan for entertainment.

"Arrrrggggghhhhhh – it's everywhere, it's _everywhere_!" the voice screamed again, followed by a loud thud. The voice was coming from Mike's cabin, and definitely belonged to him.

I looked around the campgrounds to see what was going on. Emmett was standing outside his cabin door, his gaze still intent on Mike's cabin, fighting to keep a smirk off his face. As the rest of the counselors heard the crazed sounds coming from Mike's cabin, they too began to appear in doorways; the Cullens all looked amused, while Jessica and Angela looked confused and slightly frightened.

"It's eating me alive – it's gotten me! It's consuming me! Ahhhhhh!" Mike screamed, his cabin door flying open. He stumbled out into the campsite, clawing at his skin and pajamas.

His arms flailing, he fell over once, and then got back to his feet and went running in the direction of the main path, his screams drifting back to us in the otherwise quiet morning air.

Everyone stood still, silently glancing around at one another. Angela looked wary, but then Jessica muttered something about Mike having crazy nightmares ever since they'd watched some horror movie when they were younger and stomped back into their cabin, Angela following her. It sometimes baffled me at how easily the two of them would dismiss something so odd, but then again they thought they were just dealing with human teenage boys who could act bizarrely enough; they had no idea they were dealing with vengeful vampires.

Once they were gone Emmett gave the 'thumbs up' sign to Edward, giggling as he turned back to his cabin. Rosalie and Alice just shook their heads and returned to their campers.

"Well that should be interesting," Edward murmured.

"What just happened? Is he all right?" I asked, still trying to understand what had happened to Mike.

"He'll be fine…it's Emmett I'm worried about now," Edward replied quietly.

"Edward? Explain? Please?" I said impatiently.

"Well, you remember last night when Emmett said all that nonsense about a flesh-eating virus being in the stream to Newton , right? Mike didn't really believe him, but at the same time it made him a bit paranoid. Early this morning Emmett came back here and sprinkled itching powder down Newton 's pajamas while he was asleep – needless to say, Newton had a rude awakening. He thought Emmett had been telling the truth, and the virus had finally taken hold," Edward explained.

"Itching powder? Where did he even get that? And why did you say it's Emmett your worried about now?" I asked, struggling to keep up.

"Itching powder is relatively simple – it's not really a powder, and its only ingredient is actually found all around us," he said motioning with his hands to the trees. "The seedpods from Maple trees – you often refer to them as helicopters – are full of tiny hair-like slivers. You just have to remove those slivers - it's those that cause the itching sensation," he said. "As far as why I'm worried about Emmett…well, where do you think Mike was running off to?" he asked, raising his brows.

" Carlisle ," I sighed, knowing I had to be right. Where else would someone who thought their skin was being eaten off of them run to besides a doctor?

"Exactly. And when he hears about Emmett's warning of a flesh-eating virus and sees the evidence on Mike's pajamas, well…it won't be good," Edward finished.

Shaking my head in bewilderment, I returned to my cabin and used Jessica's assumption as an excuse, assuring all my campers that it had only been a counselor having a nightmare and that everything was ok.

* * *

Edward and Emmett both helped deal with Mike's campers, explaining the same 'nightmare' story, and ushering them along with their own groups. The rest of the beginning of our day was the same as usual - Mike's underwear, the Incredible Hulk boxers this time - was up the flagpole when we arrived, and Emmett and Edward snickered while the kids all laughed in clueless oblivion.

Breakfast felt slightly rushed; so much had happened last night and this morning that I didn't know how much more I could take; even just the discovery of the paradise that was hidden under the Maintenance cabin had my mind still reeling. At least it was quieter than usual, as Carlisle was absent while he dealt with Mike so he wasn't around to question everyone's plans for the day.

As I glanced down at my schedule, I noticed that we were up for swimming today. Well...at least Jessica would be life guarding so I wouldn't have all the responsibility, although I couldn't really be sure how well she did her job. Whose cabin would we be paired up with? My eyes searched through the list, and came to rest on Rosalie's name. Well that was sort of a relief – Rosalie took these kids so seriously, surely she wouldn't let anything happen to a single one of them. Maybe today would be a good day after all.

As if reading my mind, Edward leaned over and whispered in my ear. "You're with Rosalie today, Bella – she'll surely be watching out, so I think you'll be just fine." His hand rested slightly on my back, and suddenly I had to fight the urge to jump into his arms – I would be so thankful when we could go back home.

Just as we were preparing to gather our groups and head to our activities, the door pushed open and a disheveled-looking Mike wandered in. His skin was covered in red blotches which were in turn covered in some sort of thick cream, and he had a sort of dazed look on his face. At least he'd found the time to go back and put normal clothes on. Not far behind him was Carlisle, who glared over at our table – that was our signal, and we all hurriedly rushed our groups towards the doors seeking escape, even if it was only temporary.

When my group reached the pool, Rosalie was already there, her kids the perfect picture of neatness and order as usual. I glanced back at my own group, feelings of inadequacy creeping over me – until I reminded myself that none of them had fallen off a cliff yet, and to me that was victory. I smiled at Rosalie who was helping her campers into the water.

The kids had a great time splashing around, and Jessica was doing her part teaching them the basic different types of swimming strokes. Rosalie and I leaned against the chain-link fence behind the lifeguard's tower, watching the kids have fun. After around half an hour, one of Rosalie's campers climbed out of the water and padded over to us, looking pale.

"What's the matter Rachel?" Rosalie asked, concerned.

The little girl explained that she wasn't feeling well, so Rosalie asked me if I'd be all right if she took her to see Carlisle . She knew it was probably something harmless but wanted to be sure. I looked around, and seeing Jessica still in the water with the rest of the kids, I nodded and assured her it would be fine. She hurried off to see Carlisle , Rachel in her arms.

Not long after they left Jessica got out of the pool. "Play whatever you want, the lesson's done," she said to the kids. She lazily climbed up onto the lifeguard tower, crossing her legs. "So Bella, are you like, going to have a lot of bridesmaids?" she asked. Obviously she was irritated that I hadn't asked her. It wasn't that I didn't like Jessica – I almost even felt bad for her. She was so blinded by the desire to be popular that she often didn't seem to even think for herself, she just followed behind whoever was leading the new regime. I'd experienced that side of her myself once, when Lauren had taken a particular disliking to me and I'd distanced myself from everyone…but I didn't want to think about that point in my life anymore.

"Not really," I mumbled, concentrating on my toes. My hands wove their way through the links on the fence behind me as I pressed myself into it, as if I were trying to disappear. I hated uncomfortable conversations.

"Bella, Bella! Look at what I can do!" Sophie called out from the pool. She waited to make sure I was watching her, then began turning in underwater somersaults. She flipped around and around, but when she roughly bumped into another kid she came to the surface, coughing.

"Oh! Jessica – she's having some trouble, maybe you should get her out," I said, watching Sophie nervously. I knew firsthand that things with Sophie could go from harmless to disaster within a few seconds.

Jessica looked up from picking at her nails. "She's just coughing, Bella. I think she's all right."

"You don't know Sophie – its best not to take any chances," I insisted. Jessica merely glanced up again and then shrugged.

I sighed in frustration, and catching sight of the lifesaving ring hanging on the fence next to me, I grabbed it. "Here, Sophie – in case you need it," I called out, flinging the ring into the water. Of course my aim was horrible and instead of gently drifting into the water beside her, it smacked her in the head, catching her off guard. She blinked in surprise, but at least her coughing fit was letting up.

Noting the time, I realized we were approaching lunch hour. At the same moment I glanced up from my watch, one of the balls the kids had been tossing around flew out of the water towards me. Instinct took over and I stepped sideways, swatting it away. As I did, my foot caught on the edge of a small table next to me and I began to lose my balance. Crap.

I overcompensated for the stumble and veered too far in the opposite direction, throwing the weight of my body way off. My arms were flailing, and it was as if I were moving in slow motion. The table tipped over, chasing after me in the air as I began stumbling the other way, trying to find something to grab onto. Jessica was on her feet atop the tower, her expression full of horror.

"No, Bella – _no_! Watch out!" she screamed – as if I had any control at this point. I crashed into the tower full-force, and it began to rock unsteadily. The kids in the pool were swimming to the far side desperately, screaming with water splashing everywhere. After what was probably only half a second but what seemed like forever my impact took its toll and the tower toppled, sending Jessica flying into the deep end of the pool, with the tower and me right behind her.

When I came to the surface I was surrounded by silence. All the campers were at the other end of the pool in the shallow end, and Jessica and I were floating in the deep end surrounded by the fallen lifeguard tower and the table that had followed me, which I now was grasping to stay afloat. The ball that had started it all bobbed in the water beside me, mocking me.

"You like, really need to do something about your coordination problems, Bella," Jessica said as she gasped for breath.

"I'm working on it," I spat, looking forward more than ever to when I'd be a vampire and hopefully gain all the grace that came with it.

I glanced up as the faint clinking sound of the metal gate sounded. "Oh! I'm too la – I mean, wow, Bella, what happened here?" Alice said, the surprise in her voice overemphasized.

"The usual, Alice ," I muttered. What was the point in explaining – she'd already experienced it in her head once.

"Hmm. Well, let's get you and the pool furniture out of there," she replied lightly. She told the kids to get out of the water, then pulled me out, and began fishing the table out too. When she got to the tower, she told us to leave it and that Jasper could get it later. I suppose it would have raised suspicions if the tiny pixie girl just hefted it out of the pool herself.

"Sorry Bella, I tried," Alice whispered. "That idiot Newton kept asking questions…I had to tell him I was going to throw up just to get him to agree to watch my campers for me," she added, wrinkling her face in disgust.

I smiled half-heartedly at her. "Don't worry about it, Alice – thanks for trying."

She nodded sympathetically. "Let's run you and all the kids by Carlisle 's just to cover our bases, ok? Nobody seems to be injured, but you've got some small cuts on your leg from the table, and the kids may have some scratches too. They were clawing at each other pretty good in my vision…it reminded me a lot of that awful horror movie Piranha."

I wearily waved the campers ahead of me, and Alice walked along with us to the physician's cabin. When we arrived, Carlisle 's eyes widened at the sight of all of us; I couldn't blame him, it's probably what he'd been waiting for – I'd finally managed to be responsible for sending nearly twenty kids to the doctor at once. At least Rosalie wasn't still here – he explained she'd taken her camper on to the mess hall kitchen to get some crackers for her stomach since she was feeling better. Thankfully nobody had anything worse than a few minor scratches, and a small bandage on my ankle was enough to take care of me. Carlisle offered me a towel to try and pat my clothing dry – I'd not worn a swimsuit as I'd had no intentions of joining in on the swim lessons. On our way to the mess hall I couldn't help but feel like a survivor from a shipwreck…my clothes continued to drip water despite the towel wrapped around my shoulders.

Once again, Edward took in my sopping wet appearance warily, then glanced at Alice and saw what had occurred. He sighed. "I'm sorry Bella…I really thought you'd be fine if Rosalie was there. I was stuck with Emmett at crafts. You're not hurt at all, are you? That tower could have hit you," he said, looking me over carefully.

I reassured him that I was fine, and we continued with our usual lunch routine – the rest of the Cullens came in, asked what had happened, then tried to nonchalantly pretend that it could have happened to anyone – except for Emmett of course, who slowly lowered himself into his chair while assessing my appearance again.

"You know, Bella…if you're going to go swimming, most normal people change into a swimsuit before doing so. I mean, I know you're modest and everything, but this is really taking it a bit far, even for you," he chuckled, while Edward glared defensively at him.

Carlisle made an attempt at lecturing us about our treatment of Mike, but I could tell Emmett wasn't listening, as I think Carlisle and Esme could tell too. After a while he gave up, seemingly at a loss for the moment. I could only imagine the plans for punishment he was likely focusing on for when we all went home.

Following lunch, the kids went to enjoy their free time with their friends throughout the campsite, catching up on what they'd all done that morning. While they were doing that, the counselors began the tedious task of filling water balloons for the following day's contest. Standing in the bathhouses trying to steadily hold the balloons under a stream of water at the sinks was not on the top list of my favorite things to do, but we didn't have much of a choice. Of course Alice and Rosalie made it look effortless.

After we'd gotten through dinner, the nightly fire and snacks, I had just managed to get my campers to settle into bed when I heard the commotion outside my cabin – it was like a scurrying sound accompanied by thudding footsteps. What _now_?

When I got to the door, I was met with the image of Alice and Edward wrestling with one another, apparently in competition to reach my door first.

"I've had it Edward – she had a great time last night, and she wants to go back, so you're not stopping her," Alice hissed, slipping out of his grasp with some sort of complicated turning move. She landed gracefully right at the threshold of the door grinning eagerly at me. "She's already decided anyway, so let it go. Bella – grab whatever you need and we'll be on our way back to Jasper's for the night," she whispered.

Edward growled quietly behind her. "No – you don't have to go, Bella. I know you're tired, and its best if you just stay here and get your rest. Don't worry about what Alice says," he insisted, glaring at his sister.

I sighed. "Of course I'm going back. Why wouldn't I Edward – you saw the place. I can't wait to use that shower again," I said quietly, looking over my shoulder to make sure the kids were still asleep.

"Bella – you don't have to do this. You know it's not likely you'll get much sleep, and tomorrow's a big day," Edward pleaded.

"It will be fine, Edward; and I'm much more likely to get some sleep if you're there with me. Now quit worrying so much and just accept it – you know as well as I do you were relieved to be away from listening to Mike's thoughts last night," I said seriously.

Edward cringed as he looked back toward Mike's cabin.

"See? Now just give me a moment, and we'll be on our way," I whispered.

Edward sighed in defeat. "All right, we'll wait for you out here, love."

**A/N: Do not pity Newton - only Edward knows what he's been thinking and I assure you he deserves everything he gets! Please review.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Hi everyone! Back to Jasper's we go. I usually update this every Friday, but I haven't decided what I'll do next Friday since it's the premier of New Moon. I'm thinking about skipping a week since everyone will have their attention elsewhere, lol, but I'm also considering maybe doing an outtake or something - quite a few people have been asking for some insight as far as Newton's thoughts. I haven't decided yet, but I'll let you all know. Thanks for reading! **

_(Previously):_

_I sighed. "Of course I'm going back. Why wouldn't I Edward – you saw the place. I can't wait to use that shower again," I said quietly, looking over my shoulder to make sure the kids were still asleep._

_"Bella – you don't have to do this. You know it's not likely you'll get much sleep, and tomorrow's a big day," Edward pleaded._

_"It will be fine, Edward; and I'm much more likely to get some sleep if you're there with me. Now quit worrying so much and just accept it – you know as well as I do you were relieved to be away from listening to Mike's thoughts last night," I said seriously._

_Edward cringed as he looked back toward Mike's cabin._

_"See? Now just give me a moment, and we'll be on our way," I whispered._

_Edward sighed in defeat. "All right, we'll wait for you out here, love."_

**Chapter 17:**

Later, once I'd gathered my things and Alice , Edward and I made the trip through the woods, we found ourselves settled into the comfortable couches at Jasper's. We were all lounging around when suddenly Edward sat up and glared at the door.

"No – absolutely not, Emmett – do _not_ come in here with that thing," Edward said, his voice directed at the doorway to the cavern.

A moment later Emmett pushed the door open and strode in, ignoring Edward. A small, odd-looking kitten sat perched on his shoulder, looking around as if frightened, eyes narrowed and tail twitching nervously. Its fur was sort of mottled, a variety of different colors, and had bits of forest debris clinging to it. It clearly wasn't someone's house pet.

"Chill out Edward – I couldn't leave it in the cabin again, there was a some trouble last night and Simon had to let it outside. It took me hours to track the poor little thing down again today, and I'm not abandoning it. He's perfectly harmless," Emmett replied, settling into the couch across from us.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Trouble as in that thing tried to kill half of your cabin's occupants? You've got a problem, Emmett, and when Rosalie finds out this time I don't want to be anywhere near you. Why do you think you've managed to get away with this nonsense so long? We've all been distracting her, hiding your ridiculous antics because we don't want to have to endure her fury in front of all the kids – they shouldn't have to see that."

Emmett looked nervous for a moment. "Look, it's not my fault – those kids love these animals, and it just kind of spun out of control," he mumbled, looking down at his feet. "When I saw little Spaz here hanging out behind the mess hall, I realized he must have gotten lost and was trying to find some food scraps. He just needs looking after, that's all."

I blinked. "Spaz?"

Emmett grinned back at me. "That's his name. I think it suits him – he's got lots of energy."

Edward groaned. "Just keep that thing on the other side of the room. You know it's feral, don't you? It's completely wild – there's no taming that cat," he said, crossing his arms in irritation.

"He is _not_ – he likes me," Emmett retorted, reaching up to pat the kitten on the head. It swiped a paw at his hand, hissing. "He's got spunk – he likes to play like that," Emmett chuckled.

Edward sighed heavily.

When I got up to take my nightly shower, Edward followed me, keeping himself between the kitten and me, who hissed at any movement. Ever since Emmett got up to play video games with Jasper, it had taken to hiding under the couch, the reflection of its eyes glowing in the shadows. Edward was waiting for me right outside the door when I was finished, ready to accompany me back to the couch. Since the bathroom was on the far side of the cellar, it gave us a little distance from the others. I saw my chance and pounced, throwing myself into Edward's arms before he began heading back to the couches.

He caught me easily and held me close, looking slightly confused. "Not that I object love, but what exactly are you doing?"

"Shhh…I'm trying to sneak in a moment with you, it's been hard for us to have any alone time since we've been here," I whispered. Of course everyone in the cellar heard me anyway, but they were all decent enough to respect our privacy even if it was only for a moment.

With understanding in his eyes, Edward raised his hand and gently traced the length of my collarbone. He placed soft kisses along my neck, working his way up to my ear. His lips grazed the bottom part of my lobe as he murmured, "I couldn't agree more…I've missed you my Bella."

I met his lips eagerly, and instantly felt my hands move to his hair where they happily entwined themselves. Edward was kissing me back with enthusiasm, and just when I was worried that he would break us apart like he usually did, he surprised me by pulling me even closer. My feet left the floor, and he spun us around so I was pressed up against the bathroom door. In one quick moment he'd opened the door, and before I could even blink we were on the other side of it with a more solid barrier between us and his siblings. I was surprised but thankful, as Emmett had started whistling and cheering.

After a few more minutes Edward slowed the kisses down and gently pulled away from me. The leftover steam from the shower clung in the air, making it even more difficult to breathe than normal when kissing him, and I was practically gasping for air.

He ran his hands soothingly through my damp hair, his gaze still intense. "As much as I'd like to continue this, I think it's best if we stop, love. You can hardly breathe and you're shivering. Perhaps you should take another shower to warm back up before bed," he suggested.

I nodded reluctantly, but I was glad to have had at least this little amount of time with him. The thought of going back out to the main room of the cellar wasn't all that appealing; Emmett would likely have all kinds of things to say. It had become oddly quiet out there, and I wondered why Emmett had stopped his earlier harassments.

Joking, I raised my eyebrows suggestively at Edward. "You know there's plenty of room in here…"

Expecting his response to be the usual groan and commentary on the overestimation of his self-control, I was shocked when he didn't say anything. Instead he leaned in and placed one last gentle but urgent kiss on my lips, then moved to open the door. Just before he left, he glanced over his shoulder at me. "Our wedding is soon, love. Perhaps after it's over we can revisit this place as husband and wife…or maybe a much better idea is to just have a replica of this shower room built in our house, so that we can use it as often as we like."

As the door clicked shut behind him, I stood in shock staring at the door, my face five shades of red. Maybe he really was missing me just as much as I was missing him.

After I'd recovered I showered again until I was comfortably warm, and then met him outside the door again. Edward greeted me with his crooked smile and began accompanying me back to the couch, his gaze flitting between me and the kitten, whose eyes I could still see peering out from under the couch.

"Edward – it's just a _kitten_," I muttered, embarrassed. What could it possibly do to me?

"It's _feral_, Bella – that thing is completely unstable, and I won't allow it anywhere near you," he insisted. "It's obvious by the way it's hiding under the couch that it feels threatened, and I'll not have it taking any of its aggression out on you."

"Quit being so overprotective Edward – it's annoying," Alice said. She was sketching out her latest fashion design while bouncing in her chair to "_And She Was_," by the Talking Heads.

Emmett turned around and looked like he was about to say something, but Alice cleared her throat and glared at him, and he sighed and went back to his game. So maybe that was why he'd quit making his stupid comments.

As if reading my mind, she glanced up at me smiling. "I told him to leave you two alone or I wouldn't get him his special order," she said as she winked at me.

I smiled in thanks and reminded myself to let her make me over when we got home at least once with no complaints from me – what she had done was well worth it.

"What do you want to do tonight, Bella?" Alice chirped from her chair, frowning at something in her design she seemed unsatisfied with.

"Um…I'm pretty tired, so I think I'm just going to relax and hopefully fall asleep – sorry Alice ," I mumbled, watching the disappointment spread over her features. I felt bad, especially in light of her latest favor, but all the nonsense that happened at the pool had me exhausted.

Edward was glaring at his sister, as if daring her to argue.

"Well maybe once you take a nap, you'll be up for something more exciting," Alice said hopefully.

As Edward began giving her a speech about how much sleep the human body required to function properly, I rested my head on his chest and blocked out the sounds around me so I could get some rest.

Lost in sleep, my mind was resistant to respond as it faintly registered the sound of a low growl. I didn't want to bother with knowing what it was – I'd finally been sleeping soundly, and I wasn't eager to give that up.

"So help me, if that thing gets any closer, I'll rip its throat out," Edward hissed. That got my attention – what was after me now? Images of all the past threats on my life resurfaced and I snapped my eyes open, ready to run. As I struggled to sit up, Edward gently pushed me back down; he had me pressed up against the back of the couch, his body around mine in a protective cage.

"Edward – what's wrong? What's happening?" I gasped, my eyes wide with fear.

"That – that _thing_, is all over the place and it's getting too close," Edward muttered, pointing his finger to my left. The kitten was crouched on the adjacent end table, the hair on its back raised and its tail twitching menacingly.

"Shut it Edward – it's fine, he's not going to do anything. He just wants to play – don't you know anything about kittens?" Emmett said, turning away from his video game.

"Right – and you're the authority on them because you're around them so much? Oh – never mind, that's usually the larger variety, and that's only because you're _eating_ them," Edward growled back.

"Shhh – you're upsetting him! You're the one who likes the mountain lions anyway – you know I prefer bears. It's probably why he doesn't like you," Emmett said, stomping towards the kitten.

"That thing is a menace Emmett – all it has done for the past hour is leap at anything that moves, hissing and spitting. I wouldn't be surprised if it has rabies," Edward muttered, narrowing his eyes at the kitten.

"I can't believe this conversation is actually going on," Alice murmured, carefully setting her open bottle of nail polish on the table next to her. Jasper sat down next to her, squeezing her shoulders comfortingly.

"Here kitty, kitty, kitty – come here, don't you listen to him," Emmett muttered moving towards the cat. It immediately turned its attention from us to him. "We know you don't have rabies."

"I wouldn't do that Emmett," Jasper said quietly. "That cat really _is_ feral."

Emmett leaned over to the kitten and reached out to pick it up. "There's nothing to be afraid of, silly. Come on, we'll go find some string or something – surely Auntie Alice has some ribbon of some sort."

Alice glared at Emmett. "I am _not_ the Aunt of any kind of animal, Emmett."

"Why are you guys being so mean about it? I bet if Bella wanted to get a kitten you'd be out buying every possible accessory ever made for it, and Edward would be building a custom-made litter box or something," Emmett huffed.

"If Bella wanted a pet – which I know she doesn't, she told me as much not long after we met – we'd go to a pet store or shelter to find one, not take in a wild animal from the forest," Edward replied easily.

Suddenly the cat leapt onto Emmett's outstretched hand, hissing wildly. It scrambled unsteadily against the marble-like surface, claws flying, fighting his way up Emmett's arm.

"That's it – there you go, buddy," Emmett said encouragingly.

"Emmett you idiot, it's trying to attack you," Edward snapped.

Emmett glared at him. "Is not – he's just having a hard time. He's uncoordinated like Bella – I don't see you turning her away because she can't keep her balance."

"Thanks a lot, Emmett," I said, wishing the cat could actually harm him.

The kitten successfully found something it could latch onto – Emmett's shirt. It meowed violently as it crawled over his shoulder onto his back, each of its paws clinging to the soft fabric.

Emmett was trying to reach around to his back to grasp the cat. "Wait now, that's not a good place for you – hang on, let me help you down," he said unsteadily. Unable to reach the animal, he began peeling his shirt off over his head, which was a bad idea. Now the kitten had hold of both his shirt and his hair, leaving Emmett in an awkward position with his arms raised in the air, t-shirt tangled around his head blinding him. The cat hissed and fought, creating the odd illusion of Emmett's head spinning inside the shirt.

"What are you doing? I'm trying to help you! Argh – no, no, no, no," he muttered, stumbling blindly around the room. He bumped into an end table and spun around, completely losing his balance. He ricocheted off the couch, ran into the expensive stereo equipment which crashed to the ground, then went hurtling into Alice's 'back-up inventory' supplies, sending all the neatly piled items flying in all directions. Jasper intercepted him before he could run into anything else and led him in the direction of the cavern's door, which he kicked open while simultaneously pushing Emmett and the cat out.

The cavern was quiet except for the sounds coming from the CD skipping in the background.

"And he wants to be my Assistant Manager…I don't _think_ so," Alice murmured, eyeing her store's scattered supplies.

Jasper sighed heavily and began working on the stereo equipment, trying to put it back in place.

"If he comes back here tonight and has that thing with him, I say we cut him off outside before he has the chance to come in, agreed?" Edward asked, still staring at the door.

"Agreed," Alice and Jasper said together, nodding their heads.

**A/N: Please remember to review. Thank you, I really appreciate it! **


	18. Chapter 18: OUTTAKE: Newton's Thoughts

**A/N: Happy New Moon Friday everyone!! YAY!! Ok, it came down to either just skipping this week or posting this outtake, and since 40% of you wanted me to post it I'm doing just that. Instead of breaking it into two parts I'm just posting the whole thing, that way for those of you who don't care anything about what's going through Newton's head it will be back to the story next week – I'm hoping this way I make everyone happy. That being said, the easiest way to do this was to go through from the beginning and cover Mike's side of it – it's a bit long, but I only went up to the part in the storyline that we stopped at, so it won't give anything away. Some of it will seem repetitive since you've basically already read it (only in BPOV), but hopefully it will show why Edward is always so irritated with Newton. Thanks, and ENJOY the New Moon movie!**

**Mike Newton's Thoughts**

_Sunday morning_:

I glanced over at the clock next to the crappy cot I was lying on while Jessica rambled on about everything she needed to buy before college started. She was sitting at the foot of my bunk, continuously leaning closer to me, but I wasn't complaining – if she was going to want to hang out with me while we were here I wasn't about to discourage her. If nothing else it would give me a distraction from the kids. I was actually still trying to figure out how the heck I'd ended up here in the first place; summer was supposed to be about having fun, not looking after a bunch of snot-nosed kids.

My mom had signed me up to be a counselor when we'd gotten the notice at my family's store without even asking me first – some crap about building character - and ever since I'd been trying to find a way out of it. I mean come on, I had lots of character – I probably had the most character out of everyone in our school, if character had anything to do with popularity. Pissed off, I'd mentioned it to Jess and Ang one morning when we'd met up for breakfast, and they'd both agreed to help. Even with them signed up, I hadn't thought we'd actually have to go through with it; the new owner was some kind of nutcase and had messed all kinds of stuff up. There had been such a shortage of help that it hadn't looked like the camp would go on as scheduled. I don't know what happened, but somehow things had worked out and here I was, stuck spending a week of my summer in this place. At least I had two friends here with me; too bad one of them couldn't have been Bella.

"Newton! Stanley! Weber! Front and center!" Big Sue barked from somewhere outside causing all three of us to jump. I rolled my eyes. What was up with her - did she think she was a drill sergeant or something?

We made our way outside to meet what we assumed must be the other counselors. I stepped out onto the cabin's porch curiously; I had to wonder what kind of help I would really have, especially considering the desperateness of the situation – how far would they go to keep the camp running this year…would I end up being co-workers with a bunch of idiots or murderers? I blinked in the sunlight and moved my hand to shield my eyes from the sun. Damn…it was the Cullens…I think I would have preferred the idiots and murderers. Wait a minute…is that Bella? She's looking uncertain and awkward, but she's here! I bet after she hung out with me for a while she'd be more confident with herself…but she's so stuck on that damn Cullen. I wonder if he's why she always seems so unsure of herself – he seems like one of those controlling types that put their girlfriends down so that they don't think they could do any better.

The next thing I knew Big Sue had finished barking her instructions and had disappeared with that weird Jasper following her, and suddenly Alice Cullen was in my face asking me something. I blinked, trying to follow her. Almost before I had finished my simple answer, she was flitting around and had told everyone else where they were staying within a minute or two. I really couldn't understand her…I mean her father is a doctor, shouldn't she be on Ritalin or something? She was just all over the freaking place – that had to be annoying at home, yet all her 'siblings' seemed to take it in stride…even Bella seemed fairly unruffled.

After the newcomers got settled into our cabins, we were supposed to be looking over our camper's information sheets. Jessica wanted me to work with her, but I had something else in mind. I told her to get started without me, and began to make my way across camp to Bella's cabin. With any luck Cullen would be off with his idiot brothers and I could convince Bella to work with me…who knows, maybe with him out of the way and an empty cabin on my side, I could get Bella to forget all about her egotistical fiancée and open up her eyes to other opportunities before it was too late. I bet one kiss from me would be enough to show her the difference between a real man and a stuck up snob who just wanted to own her.

My feet had barely cleared the top step of her porch when a familiar voice made me freeze in my tracks.

"Hello, Mike. Was there something you needed?" Edward asked, glaring purposefully through the screen at me. "Bella's settling in just fine, you needn't worry. As my future bride, I've ensured that she has everything she needs to make her stay quite comfortable."

"Err...of course. Sure. I just thought I'd check..." I trailed off, irritated. How the heck had he gotten here so fast? I'd left almost as soon as I could, and he'd still beaten me here…why couldn't he just have been hanging out with his brothers for once? I turned and stomped back to my cabin; I guess I'd take Jessica up on her offer after all.

_Sunday afternoon_:

Orientation sucked. It was freaking boring, just a waste of time, really. Like we all couldn't find our way around this place if we tried. Well…maybe some of the girls may not be able to, so I suppose it was useful to an extent – but it was boring to me. I mean I don't consider myself sexist at all, but the thought of people like Alice and Rosalie living in the woods for a week was especially disconcerting – they were some of the most feminine females I'd ever seen.

The whole orientation thing was stupid, Big Sue going on more than needed, the Cullen boys always looking as if they thought themselves to be superior. I'd been doing my best to ignore everything around me until we came to stop in front of a small white-washed building and Sue sort of commanded our attention by making us all halt. She was going on and on about being confused about its origins, which I found to be lame. I mean come on, if you take on a job you learn all of its ins and outs – this woman seemed to be more than a bit clueless. I stood on the sidelines as once again I watched Alice Cullen step forward and take control of the situation – she seemed eager to take over as tour guide or something. Alice dismissed Sue's hesitancy over some sort of camp paper work and was going in and out of the store chirping excitedly; I tuned it out as I found it to be just another annoying stop on the boredom express.

I was glad when it was over and we were left to have pizza for dinner. That was one thing I could understand and appreciate – food. I hoped the rest of the food here would be decent – I was an athlete and I had to keep fit if I had any hopes of making the teams in college. After dinner I was eager to retreat to my cabin to reflect on everything the day had brought with it. This camp thing had started out not looking too bad, at least I'd have Jessica to entertain me – and now suddenly I was going to be surrounded by the people I hated the most, and the one girl who I _really_ liked but refused to see me as anything other than a friend. This would be a long week.

When my alarm went off in the morning, I forced myself up out of bed, automatically reached for my bathroom kit and trudged outside to the bathhouses. The kids were arriving today so there wasn't much time to mess around. I was only half awake and staring at the ground as I walked, when I heard Jessica gasp and cry out in pain. Curious, I glanced up and suddenly bright pastel colors filled my vision; despite the cloudy sky overhead, it had a blinding effect on sleep-heavy eyes, and I dropped into a crouch in shock. What was happening – where was I? This wasn't where I had gone to sleep, there's no way! My body was flying into defensive behavior, while my mind was heading into the direction of paranoia – this was _not_ normal. When I'd gone to sleep all the cabins had been the dull, murky brown color of aged wood. Now they were all different colors - light, cheery pastel colors. I spun in circles; I knew I was spluttering, not making any sense, but I didn't know what to say – my brain wasn't working properly.

Faintly I heard Angela talking to Alice, and Alice explaining that they had all painted the cabins last night. I blinked, trying to figure out if that was even possible…the way she was explaining it sounded completely rational, almost as if I'd be a fool if I didn't believe it. I watched for Angela's reaction – she was so incredibly level-minded, I'd know if she thought it was weird or impossible. She didn't though – she just applauded the Cullen's efforts and moved on to preparing for the day. Shaking my head, I forced myself to start moving again so I wouldn't be late – I guess if Angela thought it was possible, maybe it was. After all, how else could it be explained? That Alice really does have a lot of energy…maybe doing stuff like this is how she avoids taking meds. Freaks.

_Monday morning_:

When the kids started to arrive, everything happened pretty fast. It was a lot to keep up with, but nothing I couldn't handle. My campers seemed ok…most of them seemed to get along with each other, so I could only hope I that would remain to be the case. I kept one eye on them while I watched the others meet their kids…I'd never seen the Cullens really interact with anyone aside from Bella, so to see them dealing with a bunch of six-year olds – well, let's just say they had my attention.

Edward seemed overconfident as usual. He was smiling smugly and talking easily to his kids, all while keeping his gaze fixed on Bella. He was freaking creepy with that crap – give her some space, dude. Why she didn't see that, I have no idea.

Bella looked a little overwhelmed, but she was standing her ground I guess. Her and kids seemed like a bad combination; the girl could barely walk without hurting herself. I don't know why, but I found it to be sort of cute – if I were dating her I could take care of her, and she wouldn't fall half as much as she does around Cullen. Obviously he wasn't helping her – she'd even fallen through a window when she was off begging him to take her back for crying out loud. He was probably too busy staring in a mirror admiring himself to watch out for her.

That crazy blonde Rosalie seemed to be happier than I'd ever seen her. Actually, she sort of scared the crap out of me…almost as much as her boyfriend Emmett. Both of them just had something about them that creeped me out. It was beyond weird to see her cooing and coddling all these kids, not missing a step. You'd think she'd done this before or something.

Her boyfriend looked kind of put off at first, but then he started high-fiving all the kids and seemed to think that was fun or something. After a few minutes one of his kids just walked away from him and I thought maybe the kid was just smart and knew he'd been stuck with a freak counselor, but then when Emmett followed him they seemed to be discussing something, and then they were consoling each other or something…and then that other Cullen – Jasper – was sitting with them, looking all emo, which was an interesting change from his usual constipated look.

That Alice…need I say Ritalin again? She was flitting around her kids so fast it was making me dizzy and I had to look away. This was going to be one messed-up camp.

By the time we got back to the mess hall for lunch, I was starving. I pointed out where to go to the kids, and then got in line behind them. Needless to say I was shocked when I reached the counter and saw the Cullen's mom in the kitchen, serving the food. What the heck was that about? Does the whole freak family have to constantly be together? I couldn't wait to go to college to get away from my parents, but these people were always together. She smiled and greeted me, and I politely replied as I made my selections – I was raised to respect my elders if nothing else, even if she looked more like an older sister than a mother.

Of course it was just like the school cafeteria and the Cullens were all sitting together. I glanced from Bella to Edward, and decided I'd be much more comfortable at the table beside them. During the last year of school Edward and Alice had joined us at our table, but that was because half their "group" had moved on to college – now Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie were back for the summer, and I just wasn't comfortable around them. For that matter, I wasn't comfortable around Edward or Alice either, but if it had meant Bella would sit at our table I hadn't been about to protest. Jessica dropped her tray next to mine, and Angela hesitated as she looked from us to Bella. She shrugged and chose our table, but sat as close to the end that was nearest the Cullen table, as if she was trying to be neutral.

After a little while Big Sue stomped into the mess hall and started another long, boring speech. It wasn't until she announced that there would be a competition of some sort that she regained my attention. I knew what my suggestions were going to be – anything sports related, like a basketball match or something. He didn't even play basketball, or any sports, really. He seemed to be a decent enough runner, but I was fairly sure I could totally take him on the courts. I was the best player our school had! I allowed my mind to drift, imagining the look on Bella's face when I made a fool out of him on the basketball court…yes, I was going to be stuffing the suggestion box full, that was for sure.

Sue was still going on, and now she was saying something about this year's physician, and Dr. Cullen stood up. I rolled my eyes – of course he was here too, his wife and entire family was, I shouldn't be surprised. This was just getting more and more annoying.

After we got our itineraries I looked to see what my group was scheduled for today – swimming. I wouldn't have minded so much except that it seemed fate was mocking me, just trying to see how far it could push me…I was paired up with Edward Cullen's group.

Freaking great.

_Monday afternoon_:

Dinner tonight was interesting…Bella had some sort of crap wrapped around her leg…it looked like a bunch of slime with a huge slice of onion on top – what was that all about? She looked tired, and Edward hovered over her the entire meal. I'm still waiting for the day when he refuses to let her feed herself and insists on doing it for her. I can't believe he's letting her sit there with that on her leg anyway…if it were me, I would have taken it off for her. I leaned back in my chair, trying to get a better look at her. Yes, I would definitely be willing to help her with that. I shifted my attention back to my tray as Edward suddenly glared over at me – what was his problem? It's not like he knew what I was thinking.

Swimming lessons with Cullen's group had been as annoying as I'd expected it to be. Cullen did his best to glare at me the entire time, while Jessica attempted to instruct the kids on the various styles of swimming. She was shamelessly trying to catch _both_ of our attention, but was stupid enough to think I didn't notice what she was doing. Like Cullen would give her the time of day – he had _Bella_, which reminded me why I hated him so much all over again. He seemed so egotistical, leaning against the fence just staring the whole time, as if he thought he was better than us. All those stupid family camping outings they all go on…you'd think at least once they could have come across a bear or something and it could have solved my whole problem, and then Bella would have been left alone, and I could have been the one to step in and console her. Maybe there was still hope…

"Hey Cullen – you got plans to go on anymore family camping outings before the wedding?" I asked gruffly from where I sat near the pool.

He glared back at me for a moment before answering. "No. Sorry to disappoint you," he said disdainfully. What was that supposed to mean – how would he know I wanted him to go? He's so stupidly smug about everything.

I brought my attention back to the present. We were about halfway through our meal now, and my attention shifted over to the Cullen's table. Daddy C and Alice were having some sort of heated discussion – he looked pissed! I tried to overhear what the argument was about, but they were being careful with their whispering. All I could catch was something about rule breaking. When Bella yelled at Alice I really wanted to know what was up – maybe this was something that could put a rift in the wedding plans. I mean Edward didn't seem to be involved, but maybe a fight with the family would force him to defend them and then Bella and Edward would fight too; I'd be there to soothe her pain. I smiled at the thought as I took another bite of my lasagna, and Jessica rambled on beside me about who knows what.

Later when we were all getting things ready for the nightly fire and snacks, Emmett asked what would go on tonight, and Edward replied with some lame comment with hidden meaning implied about how it would be different from when they went camping – again, they think they're so special. I couldn't help but ask what the heck they were talking about.

"What's so different when you all go camping?" I asked irritably while rolling my eyes at Jessica, who snickered back.

"Why don't you stay up after the kiddies are in bed and find out, huh Newton?" Emmett sneered back, grinning devilishly at me; I automatically crept backwards a little.

Like I said, Emmett kind of scares me. I don't know what they do on their camping trips, but I was tired of them and just wanted to get the rest of the night over with, so I let it drop.

Apparently, Bella had set up a ghost story with props. I was familiar with it, it was popular when we were kids at Halloween parties – she'd just altered minor details so it could be done at any time of the year. She was really thinking of what would really capture the kids' attention without scaring the crap out of them – it was a really great idea. Sometimes I thought she was just as smart as she was hot.

The storytelling was done by Emmett, and he did a good job of adding the freaky element to it. It went well, the kids seemed enthralled by it all, but at the end of it Edward sort of freaked out and threw one of the bowls at Rosalie. I had no idea what that was about…if I had to guess I'd say that he was tired of all the attention being on Emmett and wanted it to be over so he could be in Bella's spotlight again. What a loser.

_Monday night_:

Almost as soon as we'd had everything cleaned up and my campers were settled in, I'd settled into my own bunk, eager to get the night over with. I'd been lying there for a while though, and sleep was not coming easy. I think seeing Bella again was having more of an effect on me than I thought it would. It was weird for me…I had Jessica chasing after me, practically falling all over me, but all I could think about was Bella – and not in a stalkerish way like Cullen; I just didn't understand why she wasn't interested. She'd never even given me a chance. I was popular, played tons of sports, did all the right things. I had tons of girls wanting to go out with me, but yet she treated me like her brother or something.

Frustrated, I sighed and put my arms above my head and clasped my hands behind my head, thinking. Bella was different. There was just something about her that was different than any girl I'd ever met – maybe it was that she didn't seem to get caught up in the trends, or that she seemed so much more mature than the other girls. She actually listens when someone speaks, rather than just nodding her head along absently like so many people I knew. I liked being listened to…even if I'd never said anything all that serious to her – I could tell that if I did, I'd be able to talk to her about things I'd never talked to anyone about.

Sighing again, I closed my eyes, willing sleep to come. The soft snore of one of my campers filled the silence, and I kept my eyes shut hoping I'd drift off.

It wasn't working. All I could see was Bella's face; all I could think of was pulling her to me, kissing her…holding her… Turning onto my side I tried to think of something else. I thought of working at my parents shop, and how I couldn't wait to go to school so I could take some management courses and possibly take over the business. Maybe if I was successful I could get Bella to come back and work permanently there, and she'd think more of me because of my accomplishments. UGH! Her hair, her skin, her lips…she was just calling to me. I know I could make her forget Cullen if I had the chance – I know I could.

I got out of bed…there was no way I was going to sleep. I had no real idea of what I was going to do, but I knew I had to go for a walk. I had to get out – maybe the fresh air would help to clear my mind and make me feel better. Careful not to wake my campers, I stepped into my flip flops and crept out the door.

I saw the fire was still burning, and there looked to be at least one person sitting around it, but it was hard to tell. Whatever – it was surely a Cullen, so I didn't care. I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my shorts and started walking, concentrating on the fresh air. I'd reached the end of the boys' cabins when something occurred to me: what if I could talk to Bella, just her and me? Maybe she'd see there is a serious side to me and want to learn more about me – maybe she'd see that she's crazy for rushing into marriage at her age and call it all off. It's stupid - its way too young to get married. I think Cullen pushed her into it, and he probably can't wait to get her pregnant and trapped. Hell, she could be pregnant now and we wouldn't know… Crap – _was_ she pregnant? I hadn't pictured her to be the easy type, but it would explain such an early, rushed wedding. Nah…I don't think that's it. I just think Cullen has brainwashed her into joining his cult of a family. I've got to talk to her. No time like the present I guess - I'll try – maybe she'll still be awake or something; if not, I can try and throw a pebble at her door to catch her attention.

I was about fifteen yards from her cabin when I tripped over some big rock. My foot was throbbing as I landed in a heap on the ground.

"What the hell?!" I muttered loudly, clutching my foot.

"Going somewhere?" an all too familiarly annoying voice murmured from the shadows.

"What's going on here?" Bella hissed quietly; she must have heard me fall and come out to see what was going on

"Nothing to worry about, Bella - go on back to bed. Newton here just found the sudden urge to go for a midnight stroll, which he claims just coincidentally involved a trip over to this area. Thankfully I was still up and was here to remind him the guys are to stay on their side of the campsite during the night, and to steer him back in the right direction," Edward replied in a light tone, while simultaneously glaring at me.

"Well…what exactly are you doing on the ground then, Mike?" Bella asked.

"Err – I tripped on – _something_. It was a rock, I guess…" I muttered, looking around curiously. There were no rocks anywhere near me. What the heck? It had to have been a rock – it had felt like tripping over granite!

"Perhaps you should pay closer attention to where you're walking, Mike," Edward replied icily.

Feeling beyond embarrassed, I mumbled something about wanting to make sure Bella had gotten settled in all right and then tromped back to my cabin, hoping everyone would forget the whole situation in the morning.

_Tuesday morning_:

The morning was difficult, as I was still tired and my foot was kind of bruised. Rushing around trying to get all the kids ready for the day was trying, but somehow I got through it and we were finally trudging our way up the path to the flag ceremony. I was looking forward to a big breakfast, and that thought lifted my spirits and took my concentration away from the embarrassment from the night before. I could only hope Bella was as clueless as she'd acted – it would be humiliating for her to know what I'd been doing.

When we reached the top of the hill, I noticed the kids were all laughing at something. Even my own campers started snickering, and I looked around curiously. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary, but when my gaze fell on Emmett I noticed he was looking up – I followed his gaze and was horrified to see my Superman boxers at the top of the flagpole. Instantly I looked around the crowd, paranoid that the kids all knew the underwear belonged to me. It would be hell to have a bunch of six-year olds making fun of me… So my mom had bought them for me last Christmas – big deal, at least they were boxers. I'd always had a fascination with the comic book heroes, I didn't see anything wrong with it – how was it any different than being a fan of the newer versions of the same thing, like the X-Men or something? There was just something cool about the idea of having superpowers…I'll bet if I was able to spray webs out of my arms or save the world that someone like Bella would think it was cool. Whatever - none of the kids seemed to know who they belonged to, so I breathed a sigh of relief. As I did, Jasper slowly lowered the shorts and removed them, and as he announced that the owner could retrieve them from the lost and found bin he looked right at me, with something close to pity in his eyes. There was no doubt – the Cullens not only knew they belonged to me, they had to be behind it. Who else would have done it and looked at me that way? Stupid freaks were jealous of me, and now they were trying to actually do something about it since we weren't in school where I had so many friends to back me up.

It was a free day, and that had me worried that all the kids would want to do different things, meaning we'd have a mini-rebellion on our hands. Oddly, over-active Alice Cullen was the one to coordinate it; she had it all wrapped up in no time, and it seemed we were headed to the lake. I was cool with that – it meant Jessica would be going, and I wondered if I could get Bella to feel jealous somehow. If playing games was what got you the prize, I didn't see a problem with it. There was a faint stab of guilt…Jess had been a friend for a while, even though we'd had our dating history. I made a mental note not to be too leading with my behavior…I wasn't purposefully trying to hurt Jess after all. She was a sweet girl, just a bit flighty for my taste. Besides, she'd hurt my feelings plenty when I'd taken her to that bowling alley in Port Angeles and she spent half the night checking out other guys.

I'd tried to get Bella to swim at the beach, but Edward was sitting right there, glaring like usual. She'd obviously felt intimidated by him and said something about honeymoon plans, which Edward had smirked at. I wondered if he'd trained her to respond that way to anyone that wanted to talk to her other than his royal freaking self. Before I could try a different approach, Jessica was calling me over, so I spent the rest of my day with her, laughing and smiling while sneaking glances over at Bella every now and then.

After the day at the beach, everything went fairly smoothly and the night passed by quickly. As I drifted off to sleep I re-played the days events in my mind differently than they'd actually occurred, and imagined what it would have been like if Bella had jumped up into my arms when I'd asked her to swim. I would have kissed her passionately, and then we would have run off, kicking sand in Cullen's face as we went, leaving him and his loser family behind.

The next morning I awoke refreshed and ready to start the day. After my trip to the bathhouse I was on my way back to the cabin to get all the kids up and ready when I noticed Cullen sitting near the fire pit. He looked sullen…depressed, really. Maybe he and Bella had an argument – I could only be so lucky. As I ran my tongue over my freshly brushed teeth I thought of kissing her again. When I looked back up, Bella was sitting with Cullen and they were both talking seriously. He glanced up at me, and then quickly averted his gaze. They had to be arguing – he looked so unhappy and she looked so serious. I took the opportunity and winked at Bella, hoping to distract her. She'd gone back to paying attention to Edward though, so I wasn't sure she'd even seen me do it – but then she started giggling loudly, and I thought maybe I was wrong, maybe she had seen it. Giggling was good, right? Chicks always giggled when they were flirting or embarrassed. Encouraged, I continued on my way to my cabin to gather the kids for breakfast.

My mood dropped a little at the flag ceremony; another pair of my boxers was waving from the top. Which one of the Cullens was doing it? Better yet, when were they getting them out of my dresser? It was freaking stupid, and it was getting on my nerves. Glaring, I looked around from under my lashes trying to be inconspicuous, only to find Emmett watching me expectantly. Was it him? I'd barely even talked to the guy, why would he care anything about me?

I was starving and just about ready to begin eating when the madness began. I still don't even know what happened or how it began; one minute it was completely normal, the next food was flying everywhere and I was trying to hide behind my tray. We ended up having to go back to camp and start the day over again, which I was incredibly irritated about – I was ready to move onto the day's assigned activity – crafts, with Bella's group.

_Wednesday midday_:

Craft time was not going as planned, at least not for me. I'd thought I'd have all kinds of time to talk to Bella, but between my kids and Angela's constant instructions, I hadn't even had a minute with her. Eventually I glanced up and noticed Angela had disappeared, so I was trying to hurry my last couple of kids through their projects, but by the time they were done Angela was back – and Bella had a kid glued to her. How the heck had that happened? The kid was seriously stuck to her – so much so that Bella had to carry the girl to the mess hall; Angela had explained that she was going to help them get separated. I just shook my head as they went.

Later, once Bella had returned and the kids were flying their kites I made my way over to where she was sitting in the grass.

"That's an interesting look, Bella," I said, nodding at her hair. "I especially like the sparkling effect – the glitter is a nice touch," I added, chuckling.

She rolled her eyes at me, not saying anything. She was probably embarrassed.

Before I could really think it through, I said the first thing on my mind. "So…you're really going through with this whole wedding thing? I mean…are you sure you want to be with Cullen for the rest of your life?"

Bella sighed. "Yes, Mike – I'm absolutely sure I want to marry Edward, and I can't wait to start my life with him, ok?"

I sighed in response. "Look, I'm just saying I think he's kind of weird – his whole family is, for that matter. I think you could do a lot better," I added, glancing down at the ground.

"Mike, if you're going to sit here and continue to pick on Edward and his family or discourage me from marrying him, then I'm not going to continue this conversation, got it?" she replied irritably.

Maybe I'd been too direct – I thought since they'd probably been fighting earlier it would be a fairly easy way to start a conversation. In my experience girls were always eager to put down their boyfriends to someone else when they were arguing – venting, they called it. Movement on the outskirts of the clearing caught my attention; it was the gluey girl that had been stuck to Bella earlier. "Err – it looks like one of your kids is having some trouble," I muttered.

Bella looked up and saw the girl, and then made her way over to assist her.

I turned my attention to the kids to make sure everyone else was doing ok while thinking about how to approach Bella. Maybe I was wrong – maybe I wasn't being too forward, maybe what had set her off was that I'd put the Cullens down. I mean even if she discovered Edward was all wrong for her, she was still friends with Alice and the others…so obviously she'd take it personally for someone to say something like I had. Duh, Mike! I really had to think about this more carefully. I thought back to when Cullen hadn't been around, when he had left her. I'd tried to make a move then, but I was too timid, and then that Jacob guy had stepped in. She seemed to have taken to him whenever he was always putting himself in her face, so maybe it was a good tactic. Heck, even after Edward had come back to town Jacob had continued to push himself on her, showing up in the school parking lot making a scene…and she'd seemed torn between the two. So maybe that was it…maybe I should be more forward, more direct, but just not put the Cullens down. Maybe she just didn't realize that I still felt more than friendship towards her, maybe I needed to flirt with her more obviously.

After looking over the clearing and checking on all my campers and the rest of Bella's, my attention shifted back to where Bella had gone. The little girl was now approaching me, looking worried. She asked if I could go help Bella – of course I could.

"Bella…what happened to you?" I asked, taking in her situation. She was trapped in some sort of string cocoon wrapped around the tree.

"I was trying to help Sophie get her kite free, Mike. Could you please get me loose? We weren't having much luck," she replied. She seemed embarrassed again.

I chuckled. "Sure, Bella, I can help. Maybe next time you should ask someone else to help instead of getting involved yourself," I added, grinning at her.

I started working where she said the kid had left off, carefully tracing the string's path backwards, slowly unraveling it. Each time I had the opportunity to get close to her I lingered just for a moment, trying to get her to notice me. When I was almost done, I stood right in front of her and boldly wrapped both arms around the back of the tree to pass the string from one hand to the other, kind of putting us in a hug – that definitely seemed like something that Jacob kid would have done. I was trying to be a little more forward, just trying to get noticed.

"There, that should do it, Bella," I breathed into her hair. For a moment I considered throwing all caution to the wind and kissing her – when would I have her alone like this, away from even the kids? She squirmed a bit and I realized she was probably uncomfortable from being wrapped to the tree – not the best thing for a romantic moment. I pulled away from her, smiling. Maybe there would be more time later – the point was that I'd asserted myself a bit more, so maybe I'd given her something to think about.

She tried to step away from the tree but was still stuck for some reason, and before I could help her further she forcefully tugged free, causing her to lose balance and stumble over. I stared at her for a moment, wondering how one person could continually be at odds with nature, and then offered my hand to help her up, trying to fight back a smile.

She looked embarrassed again and got up on her own, huffing off. I chuckled, watching her gather her kids as they all looked at her in shock. I couldn't blame them – she was covered in sap from the tree which was in turn covered in pine needles from the ground. Combined with the crazy glitter hair it really did look like a Halloween costume gone wrong.

I followed behind her with my campers, thoughts of an imaginary kiss playing over and over in my head…I should have taken the opportunity when I'd had it.

At some point during lunch a pounding sound coming from nearby interrupted my make-believe thoughts. I shook my head, focusing on everything around me. Jessica and Angela weren't around – they'd gotten up to empty their trays. I glanced warily over at the Cullen's table. Edward looked really upset over something, and the Cullens all looked shocked. Bella looked stuck somewhere between shock and horror; they must be having another argument! I wonder what that jerk was saying to her now – he was whispering something so quietly I couldn't hear a thing, but he looked real intense. Maybe being around all these kids had Bella realizing what it would be like to be married so young – maybe she was realizing she wasn't ready to be tied down and to have his children. Maybe…this whole camp thing with the kids had been a great thing after all…

_Thursday night_:

By Thursday night, I was more than ready for camp to just be over. Spending so much time around the Cullens was doing nothing for me other than add more proof to the fact that they're total freaks; it was just more obvious everyday why they hadn't ever fit in at school.

Rosalie's cabin had woken up the entire campgrounds in the middle of the night screaming bloody freaking murder because two guinea pigs had gotten loose in their cabin. My kids informed me the next day that the things had come from her idiot boyfriend's cabin; apparently they had all kinds of animals in there. What's more irritating is that I think that big jerk tried saying I was somehow involved – while I was trying to get a good look at Bella to see what she was wearing to sleep in I'd heard him mention my name and then Rosalie turned and glared at me.

Of course they'd continued their fascination of running my underwear up the flagpole, and despite the fact that I was hiding them every night before bed, they were still finding them somehow. Then this morning the lamest thing happened yet – Emmett, who was supposed to be a college student, somehow thought it was wise to give all his kids Mohawks because _one_ of them had gotten gum in his hair. Where's the logic in that? How the heck could someone that stupid graduate high school, not to mention get into college?

That over-hyper Alice somehow managed to win the scavenger hunt, which I was sort of put off about, I thought my group might have a chance. How she found everything so fast is beyond me – I'd purposefully put a four-leaf clover on the list because I already had one I always carried with me and figured nobody else would be able to spot one – they were really hard to find. So I'd planned on cheating – big deal, it's not like my campers would have known.

Then tonight on my way to bed Emmett had gone all weird on me, saying some crap about a flesh-eating virus in the creek. Yeah, right – like we wouldn't have been warned about that. Freaking stupid is what that was. I mean even if something had gotten into the water, Big Sue or someone would have to tell us, right? Of course they would. Forget it – the sooner I go to bed the sooner it will be one day closer to Sunday when we can all go home. I wonder if there was a way I can get back at those losers before camp is over.

**A/N: Please review – and I'd love to hear what you all thought of the movie too (if you've seen it!) Does anyone have any crazy stories that happened while standing in line? Did anyone get trampled in the mobs? Thanks everyone!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in updates, my computer got attacked with an awful virus and has been in the shop. I just got it back this morning and here I am, updating for all of you! Loved reading about all of the New Moon movie experiences, and glad that everyone enjoyed reading the outtake on Newton's thoughts. Now - back to the story! **

_(Previously): _

_Suddenly the cat leapt onto Emmett's outstretched hand, hissing wildly. It scrambled unsteadily against the marble-like surface, claws flying, fighting his way up Emmett's arm._

_"That's it – there you go, buddy," Emmett said encouragingly._

_"Emmett you idiot, it's trying to attack you," Edward snapped._

_Emmett glared at him. "Is not – he's just having a hard time. He's uncoordinated like Bella – I don't see you turning her away because she can't keep her balance."_

_"Thanks a lot, Emmett," I said, wishing the cat could actually harm him._

_The kitten successfully found something it could latch onto – Emmett's shirt. It meowed violently as it crawled over his shoulder onto his back, each of its paws clinging to the soft fabric._

_Emmett was trying to reach around to his back to grasp the cat. "Wait now, that's not a good place for you – hang on, let me help you down," he said unsteadily. Unable to reach the animal, he began peeling his shirt off over his head, which was a bad idea. Now the kitten had hold of both his shirt and his hair, leaving Emmett in an awkward position with his arms raised in the air, t-shirt tangled around his head blinding him. The cat hissed and fought, creating the odd illusion of Emmett's head spinning inside the shirt._

_"What are you doing? I'm trying to help you! Argh – no, no, no, no," he muttered, stumbling blindly around the room. He bumped into an end table and spun around, completely losing his balance. He ricocheted off the couch, ran into the expensive stereo equipment which crashed to the ground, then went hurtling into Alice's 'back-up inventory' supplies, sending all the neatly piled items flying in all directions. Jasper intercepted him before he could run into anything else and led him in the direction of the cavern's door, which he kicked open while simultaneously pushing Emmett and the cat out._

_The cavern was quiet except for the sounds coming from the CD skipping in the background._

_"And he wants to be my Assistant Manager…I don't think so," Alice murmured, eyeing her store's scattered supplies._

_Jasper sighed heavily and began working on the stereo equipment, trying to put it back in place._

**Chapter 19:**

When Edward woke me Saturday morning I realized I had managed to sleep for the remainder of the night following the kitten fiasco, which was pretty impressive considering my company. Feeling fairly rested I got ready and we returned to the campgrounds much the same as we did the day before - before anyone else was awake. Rosalie asked why Emmett had returned to the campsite in the middle of the night sulking, but we all claimed innocence and said he must have gotten bored with us.

Once everyone's kids were up and ready for the day, we made it to the flagpole as scheduled, with Edward's group following behind us and Alice's group at my side as usual.

Glancing at the top of the flagpole, the sight I had become used to seeing by now was waiting to greet me; this time it was TheGreen Lantern blowing in the breeze. I glanced over at Emmett, who'd arrived before us. He still looked slightly disgruntled, but apparently his mood hadn't been bad enough to interfere with his morning tradition.

At breakfast we all settled in at our table. Carlisle was waiting on us, and after Esme was done with her work she joined us as well.

"Today should be interesting…are all of you looking forward to it?" Carlisle asked, smiling warmly at each of us. Everyone nodded in response, silverware clattering and fake chewing in unison. I picked at my toast and frowned, wondering how well I would fare the water balloon fight; was it possible to drown without actually being underwater? I shuttered slightly at the thought, and Edward glanced over at me curiously. I offered him a reassuring smile.

Emmett chuckled, and I focused my attention back to the conversation around me. "You guys are going down, that's for sure." He stabbed a piece of watermelon with his fork, examining it closely. "If you eat the seeds, why doesn't it start to grow in your stomach? What if you ate soil with it?" he mused, mostly to himself. Everyone ignored him, obviously immune by now to the mysterious workings of Emmett's mind. I had to wonder if he'd really ever been human.

"I'm just glad it's water balloons – they'll hurt way less than something like paintball would have," I muttered.

"_Damn_ it! I should have thought of that," Emmett exclaimed, hitting the table, the watermelon seeds suddenly forgotten.

Carlisle gave him a stern look. "Language, Emmett. Besides, the camp would never have been able to pull off getting enough supplies for such a thing."

"Maybe someone could have donated them," Emmett snorted in reply. Carlisle glanced at him curiously, but Alice quickly jumped in, asking Esme if she'd been enjoying the week cooking for all the kids.

"I really have – it's been nice having Angela help out in the kitchen from time to time, she's a lovely girl. She'll have a bright future," Esme smiled. I agreed, and Esme spoke a bit more about the enjoyment she'd had this week in watching the children's expressions as they went through the line; the food was obviously much better this year than they had been expecting, definitely not your typical camp food. She really had quite a talent in the kitchen.

Before long Sue entered the hall and began the awards ceremony. The camp made it a point to make it fun and non-competitive, so all the kids were enjoying themselves and cheering for their friends. A couple of my campers even placed – one for swimming, and Sophie managed to get second for 'most creative kite decorating.' I briefly wondered if my glitter-glued hair had been included in that particular vote. Regardless, all the campers had fun and the mood was enthusiastic as we headed back to camp to prepare for the water balloon fight.

The rules for the balloon fight were fairly simple. All groups started from different points surrounding the lake and had to work their way back to the campsite. Whichever group made it with the driest number of campers won. Any kid that was hit with a balloon was still allowed to play to help protect the ones that were still dry. Each camper and counselor was given a sling to carry their balloons in, and there were extra balloons in various locations throughout the woods between the lake and camp for re-loading.

My nerves were nearly shattered as my group stood near the edge of the lake waiting for it to begin. The other groups were all within site, but nowhere near close enough to actually hit one another – yet. I'd instructed my group to start running like crazy at the signal and not to stop until we couldn't make it any further. My goal was simple – get away from the very fast vampires and the idiot boy that had a relentless crush on me – knowing my luck, Mike would revert back to preschool behavior and decide to hit on me by _actually_ hitting me or my campers with the stupid balloons.

My plan had seemed reasonable when I'd thought of it, but now, as we all stood panting in the middle of the woods I was second-guessing my brilliancy. I looked around trying to figure out where we were. The only thought I'd had was to get away from the others as quickly as possible – sure, the Cullens would have to act at human speed, but even so their aim was impeccable and if we wanted to stand a chance we had to get out of range. The problem now was that I hadn't been paying attention to which direction we'd been running in as we'd wildly thrashed our way into the woods as if being chased by fire.

My campers surrounded me, huffing for breath, their little balloon slings hanging off their shoulders and resting on their hips. I was trying to figure out where to hide next when rustling from above and sudden movement caused me to jump back in surprise. With quiet grace, Jasper landed swiftly in front of me having leapt from a branch above.

He grinned at me. "Hey Bella. I was wondering if maybe you might want some help."

Why would he want to help me? Surely he would be looking out for Alice … As if reading my mind he continued.

"Don't get me wrong – I love Alice – this was actually her and Edward's idea," he explained, glancing over my shoulder at my campers. "Edward thought it best if someone…kept an eye on you, and Alice wanted me to be able to join in the fun – she knows I love this type of thing, and she certainly doesn't need the help," he finished, smiling apologetically at me.

Jasper went on to explain how he'd been competing in various things with his family long enough to know and understand how they think, what moves they'll make.

"They're almost predictable, really. Emmett gets overly competitive and will do something ridiculous, Edward and Alice will mind-play each other relentlessly, and given Rosalie's recent behavior, she'll just be trying to figure out how to protect her kids from getting hit," he surmised easily, leaning back against a tree. My group was watching us curiously.

"Won't Alice um, know what's happening? Which in turns means Edward will too? How can that help our situation?" I asked, selectively choosing my words due to our audience.

"All part of the game, Bella. Trust me, Alice and Edward almost always get caught up trying to cancel each other's moves out," he answered confidently.

I heard a kid laughing in the distance and realized I'd better make up my mind and fast. "What do you guys think? Should we let Jasper be on our team? He hasn't been able to participate in anything this whole week, and remember how nice it was of him to bring your lunches and all those toys to the lake? Shouldn't we let him play too?" I asked my group – I wanted it to be up to them.

They studied him for a second, and then each one began nodding in approval. "Looks like you're in," I said smiling.

Jasper began to map out a plan. He arranged the kids in a perimeter-type situation, and set one of the girls up to be a trap – she'd wander out just far enough to get attention, then run back toward us, where someone would be ready in any given direction. After they were all in place, he helped situate me up in a tree, which was in the middle of our area; if anyone got past the girls then I'd try and get them from above. We'd repeat this scenario, continually moving closer to camp and re-setting our traps, including moving me from tree to tree. Before leaving me on the first branch, Jasper paused. He removed a small length of rope from his backpack and circled it around my waist onto the tree trunk at my back – he'd either been lectured by Edward about my safety or was just used to my unfortunate lack of stability by now.

Back on the ground Jasper taught the kids various hand gestures to signal certain things – how many campers were approaching, if a counselor was in front of them, and so on. He really had thought of everything. Once he had the kids in position, he climbed up into a tree opposite mine, listening to the sounds of the forest and concentrating.

The first couple attacks worked flawlessly. Mike's group was the first to come near us. They spotted the girl from our group – seemingly alone – and came running after her. Of course she got hit, but when his entire group came within range we took out all but Mike himself and two of his campers before they caught on and ran off. The same happened with half of Rosalie's group – they'd run ahead of her before she could stop them and at least five of her campers got soaked, whereas only one more of mine got hit. I was sure she was silently cursing the necessity to move at human speed.

We'd moved forward through the forest three times now, and were really close to reaching the edge of the campsite. I asked Jasper why we didn't just make a run for it now, but he shook his head, listening to something in the distance.

The snapping of twigs caught my attention, and the new dry replacement we were using as 'bait' moved toward the sound as instructed. Jasper tilted his head, his eyes narrowed. Something was off.

Suddenly four boys stepped out from the trees and stood staring at my camper. I recognized them as some of Emmett's campers – not only were the Mohawks unmistakable, but they now had what appeared to be war paint smeared on their faces. Instead of running after her into our trap, they looked as if they expected her to run after them. The five kids just stood still for a second.

Jasper whistled softly from his place in the trees, sounding remarkably like a bird – it was the signal he'd taught the rest of my group to stay in hiding and wait. The girl facing the boys turned and ran, knowing she was going to get hit anyway. As a balloon sailed after her, the four boys stepped aside as one of them called out "_now_!" Suddenly an engine roared to life. Moments later bright lights flashed in the woods as Jasper's four wheeler flew into view, jumping up over the small hill it had been hidden behind.

"_WOO HOO_!!!!" Emmett bellowed, tossing balloons left and right while still steering. One of his boys sat behind him on the vehicle, clutching onto his waist with one arm and throwing with the other. His other four campers followed closely behind, running and tossing balloons at the shocked girls in my group who had momentarily frozen in place.

"Element of surprise, baby! Bet you didn't consider that, Jasper! Nice ride by the way!" Emmett called out as he and the rest of his kids disappeared past the edges of the forest and into camp.

Obviously Emmett's plan had been to try to lure campers in like we had, but then to take them by surprise and get past them quickly. Once they were gone we assessed the damage. Seven in all of my campers had been hit, but three were still dry, as was I.

I was sure that despite the shock we'd still managed to hit some of them. When he'd come roaring over the hill I'd practically jumped out of the tree in surprise; it had been a good thing Jasper had strapped me to my branch so securely. Half of my balloons had flown from my satchel in my brief moment of panic, but I'd salvaged a couple, one of which I knew I'd hit Emmett in the back with, and Jasper said he was sure a lot of the boys had also been hit.

After pausing, Jasper removed me from the tree and waved us forward, instructing us to sprint to camp. Panting, we arrived minutes later, and Jasper disappeared back into the forest as if he'd never been with us at all. We were the last group to arrive, and I looked around at the others' appearances. Mike's group was soaked except for one kid. Rosalie's group had similar results. Every member of both Alice and Edward's group, including themselves was dripping wet – Jasper had been right about them cancelling each other out. As my gaze came to rest on Emmett's group, I blinked in disbelief – seven of his kids had been hit, plus Emmett himself, which made a total of eight. Eight…which meant my group had won. Against all odds and laws of nature combined, my group had freaking won, and nobody was injured. Bless Jasper.

Angela counted everyone and announced what I'd already realized, and congratulations were bestowed upon my campers. All the kids were ecstatic – we hadn't expected to win, we'd just been hoping to survive. It was incredible, and all the other campers were happy as well. They didn't seem to care who'd won, they'd all just had a tremendous amount of fun. Emmett laughed and slapped me on the shoulder, saying he was proud of me but pretty sure that I would never beat him at anything ever again. I just grinned back – I was grateful that he didn't mention the secret coaching we'd had, and that he was content letting my campers enjoy their unexpected victory.

**A/N: Please review!**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews, you guys continue to make writing these stories well worth it!** **This story should only have about four more chapters left. **

_(Previously):_

_We were the last group to arrive, and I looked around at the others' appearances. Mike's group was soaked except for one kid. Rosalie's group had similar results. Every member of both Alice and Edward's group, including themselves was dripping wet – Jasper had been right about them cancelling each other out. As my gaze came to rest on Emmett's group, I blinked in disbelief – seven of his kids had been hit, plus Emmett himself, which made a total of eight. Eight…which meant my group had won. Against all odds and laws of nature combined, my group had freaking won, and nobody was injured. Bless Jasper._

_Angela counted everyone and announced what I'd already realized, and congratulations were bestowed upon my campers. All the kids were ecstatic – we hadn't expected to win, we'd just been hoping to survive. It was incredible, and all the other campers were happy as well. They didn't seem to care who'd won, they'd all just had a tremendous amount of fun. Emmett laughed and slapped me on the shoulder, saying he was proud of me but pretty sure that I would never beat him at anything ever again. I just grinned back – I was grateful that he didn't mention the secret coaching we'd had, and that he was content letting my campers enjoy their unexpected victory._

**Chapter 20:**

Since there would be all kinds of snacks at the carnival, the kids had a simple lunch of sandwiches which Esme had already had sent down to camp, then the campers returned to the cabins to rest while the counselors set up the carnival.

The booths were all simple enough to get ready since they were mostly already set up in the shed behind Jasper's cabin – for the most part all we had to do was transport them down to camp, and with everyone helping, the carnival was ready after a couple hours. If it hadn't been for the presence of the other humans, I knew it could have been set up in minutes, but either way it was done.

Each time a new area was complete Alice took it upon herself to work some extra magic, adding twinkle lights and other special touches, making the whole area a bit more festive. I plugged in the popcorn machine into an extension cord and turned it on, hoping that by the time we returned from our 'jousting event' the machine would be mostly full.

As I watched the kernels begin to pop, the very thought of the jousting nonsense had me chewing on my bottom lip nervously. From what I understood, we would fight against each other in pairs up on inflatable floating platforms in the water with foam-padded jousting sticks. The pairs had been pre-determined by randomly drawing names; it would be Edward against Alice, Rosalie against Emmett, and me against Mike. Edward had been furious when the pairs had been announced, worried that I would get hit too hard, but Sue had sportingly insisted the pairs remain as is to be fair, and had insisted the sticks were padded enough that nobody could get hurt - clearly, she didn't know me very well.

Before leaving the campsite, Sophie approached me and gently tucked the four-leaf clover from the scavenger hunt into the pocket on my shorts. I'd given it to her after the hunt and told her she could keep it to always have good luck. Now she was tugging the little zipper on my pocket closed, securing the clover safely inside no matter my outcome.

She looked up and smiled. "For luck, Bella. Now you'll be safe like me," she whispered. I smiled back unsteadily, waiting until she ran off with her friends. Safe like her...although she was obviously trying to be encouraging, the only real thought that came to mind was '_oh crap_.'

After the kids were gathered and everyone was down at the lake, Sue announced that it was time for the festivities to begin, and all the kids cheered loudly.

As I stood at the edge of the lake looking out at the floating platforms, my apprehension continued to grow; how was I going to manage to even keep my balance on one of those things? I barely had time to contemplate strategies before Sue was instructing the counselors to wade out into the water and get onto the unsteady looking things. Thankfully, after watching me struggle for a few minutes after everyone else was already on theirs, she allowed Jasper - who was handing out the padded jousting sticks - to wade over and help me up.

"Edward wanted me to tell you he thinks its best if perhaps you just jump into the water once it starts," Jasper whispered as he lifted me easily.

My cheeks began to flush and I glared over at Edward. Although some part of me knew he was probably right, it was still embarrassing.

Now steady, I willed myself not to move an inch while I held onto the oversized jousting stick. Mike was directly across from me on his platform smiling. Next to us were Emmett and Rosalie, and on their other side were Alice and Edward. Rosalie and Emmett appeared to be sizing each other up. Alice was leaping and spinning in the air, landing effortlessly back in place on the floating square with awe-inspiring grace, twirling the padded stick threateningly at Edward all while her bell-like laughter floated around her. Edward was too busy glaring at Mike and watching me with concern to take in his pixie sister's threats of battle. Campers cheered from the shore enthusiastically waiting for the competition to begin; it was no surprise that Alice 's campers were the loudest, obviously they were completely won over by her vampire gymnast abilities.

"Hey Mikey, you sure you're ready for this? Bella may have some issues with you she needs to work out – I'd watch it if I were you," Emmett chuckled, glancing over at us. Mike seemed confused by his statement, and turned to look at him. All of a sudden, an obnoxious air horn sounded so loudly it scared me horribly, and I jumped at the sound.

When I jumped I began to tilt backwards, so I instinctively overcompensated for the movement and lurched forward, my arms spinning desperately, the foam stick pummeling angrily forward with my motions. Crap.

I heard the loud _whack, whack, whack_ as it repeatedly made contact with Mike, who'd been caught off guard by my wild, unintentional attack. I'd tipped over enough to cause myself to slip off my platform, but was able to catch hold of it just in time to remain above the water's surface and watch the event's that followed.

When I'd hit Mike, the last strike had been hard enough to send him flying off the side of his platform, straight over into Rosalie. She in turn tipped forward towards Emmett, who once he saw his wife flying towards him, threw his stick off to his side so he could catch her as they fell into the water together. When he'd thrown his stick, Edward had instinctively reached out to catch it, probably having heard his thoughts and using the warning. As he'd reached out to catch it, Alice lowered her tiny figure into a crouch and with one strong, quickly aimed hit knocked Edward off his platform and into the water. She gracefully leapt into the air in victory, landing easily back onto the wet platform below her.

The whole environment was utterly silent for a few moments, taking in what had just happened, and then Alice 's campers erupted into crazed cheers.

"Unbelievable Bella – you just took out four people with basically one swipe," Emmett laughed beside me, but then stopped as he took in Rosalie's expression. She was obviously mad at me for causing her to fall into the water, and I shrugged apologetically. It's not like I'd done it on purpose. Emmett lowered his voice conspiratorially and glanced over at Mike who still looked shell-shocked. "Nice to see you've joined Team Take Down Newton," he winked.

A second later he raised his voice a few levels. "I warned you Newton – looks like Bella _does_ have some issues with you after all. She just beat the crap out of you," he chuckled, as Mike's face flushed in anger.

Edward waded over to me, and accompanied me out of the water. "That's not exactly what I had in mind, love, but at least Mike didn't get the chance to hit you – either way, I suppose it worked out," he murmured, trying to suppress a grin. "Actually, it was a pretty good hit you got him with – you're quite dangerous with one of those things," he added, motioning to the jousting stick.

I rolled my eyes as my only response. At least it was over.

Back at camp, it wasn't long before the carnival was in full swing. Kids were milling about, crowding around each of the booths. Emmett's appeared to be the most popular, as he would lift things that got heavier and heavier – the heaviest being a boulder they had rolled in from the forest. There had to be limitations after all, otherwise suspicions would be raised. I couldn't help but smirk as I watched him 'struggle' to lift the massive rock; I knew he could juggle three if not more of them if he'd be allowed.

Kids were regarding Edward with awe; they were a bit taken aback by how he was able to 'guess' their favorite colors, their birthdays, their sibling's names…of course every now and then he would get one wrong on purpose, but it was still incredibly impressive to the children. He seemed to be truly enjoying himself as he took in their shocked expressions with each guess. When Sophie approached him I paused to watch them. Ever since he'd 'saved her' during the food fight, he'd become sort of a hero to her and she always got just a little more shy when around him.

She shuffled forward in the line, and Edward brightened when he saw her. "Come on, Sophie, it's your turn," he encouraged. She moved to sit in the chair in front of his, but instead he reached out and lifted her onto his lap. I saw the tiny smile tugging at the corners of her mouth; he was breaking through her shyness and putting her at ease.

"Now, what would you like me to guess, Sophie? Perhaps you're favorite color?" he asked. She glanced up and nodded in response. Edward closed his eyes and pretended to be in deep thought. After a moment he looked down at her curiously. "Would it be green?"

Sophie gasped and then smiled, nodding enthusiastically. Edward grinned crookedly, and then continued. "What else can I guess for you?"

This continued for a few minutes, as he guessed a few more items correctly for her. He wasn't being as cautious with her – he just wanted her to really have fun, which she did. When her time was up, she looked shyly up at Edward, and then whispered something I couldn't quite catch, even though his booth was right next to mine. He smiled brilliantly and whispered something back to her which made her face light up, and she threw her little arms around him happily. Edward chuckled and helped her down to the ground. She smiled at him and then immediately began running toward my booth.

Sophie ran right up to me and grasped my hand, pulling me down to her height. I glanced over at Edward curiously, who was watching the two of us out of the corner of his eye as he conversed with his next camper in line. "What's going on, Sophie? Did you have fun at the Mind Reading booth with Edward?" I asked.

She nodded, then moved really close to me and whispered into my ear. "I told Mr. Edward that you love him, cause I can tell you do, and I asked him if he loved you too," she said excitedly.

I blinked. Before I could say anything, she rushed on. "He said he loves you more than anything in the _whole wide world_!" she finished, hopping up and down happily.

"Wow! I'm incredibly lucky, aren't I Sophie? That's wonderful!" I replied while blushing a little. Of course I knew he loved me – we were getting married – but somehow have the revelation revealed to me so eagerly by a six year old made me feel almost as shy as I used to back when I'd been sitting next to Edward in biology.

She nodded in agreement and hugged me, then said she was going to go have a heart painted on her cheek for me and Edward. I was going to really miss her after camp was over…which was tomorrow.

Things over at Alice 's booth were going in much the same fashion as they had been at Edward's. She would predict what the campers were going to be when they grew up – since it was based on what they had already decided what they would be it almost always matched what they had in their minds, except for those few that didn't yet know what they wanted to be in which case she guessed - which also kept her under the suspicion radar. She was really playing the whole thing up – there was even a crystal ball in front of her, which she kept peering into while waving her hands over it.

The game booths were popular and consistently crowded. Mike was showing kids how to shoot the ball if they didn't know, and it was a big hit. Jessica's ring toss booth was busy too, and she actually looked as though she were making an effort to be nice to the kids.

Rosalie and I were busy off and on, which suited me just fine. Rosalie looked less happy about it, probably wondering why there wasn't a constant line around her cart – it's not like kids can continuously eat non-stop. Besides, they would be going to dinner soon anyway.

Finally after a couple hours of entertainment, the carnival was coming to a close and the kids' energy levels were dropping. In order to help us clear up the carnival, Sue, Esme and Carlisle came to take the kids to dinner, allowing the rest of us to get started on clean-up.

**A/N: Please leave a review, thanks!**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Ok, here's the next update - the cleaning up of the carnival. There are only a couple more chapters left to this, so I'd just like to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read this. Thank you! And have a really great holiday! **

_(Previously):_

_The game booths were popular and consistently crowded. Mike was showing kids how to shoot the ball if they didn't know, and it was a big hit. Jessica's ring toss booth was busy too, and she actually looked as though she were making an effort to be nice to the kids. _

_Rosalie and I were busy off and on, which suited me just fine. Rosalie looked less happy about it, probably wondering why there wasn't a constant line around her cart – it's not like kids can continuously eat non-stop. Besides, they would be going to dinner soon anyway._

_Finally after a couple hours of entertainment, the carnival was coming to a close and the kids' energy levels were dropping. In order to help us clear up the carnival, Sue, Esme and Carlisle came to take the kids to dinner, allowing the rest of us to get started on clean-up. _

**Chapter 21:**

While waiting for the popcorn machine to cool down enough to empty, I was watching Rosalie gracefully use one of the paper cones to begin gathering the rest of the cotton candy out of the tub of her cart when she paused, her brow creasing. She tilted her head to the side and sniffed the air as if something smelt distasteful. She looked around the base of the cart before returning her gaze back to the tub's contents. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she lowered the cone back into the fluff, swirling it around the sticky strands, working meticulously. After she pulled another few layers of cloud-like sugar from the sides, her eyes suddenly widened in disbelief and she hopped back, gasping. Curious, I leaned over to look into her cart's tub to see what had happened, and I was greeted with the oddest sight. Sammy and Fred's heads had popped to the surface, covered in blue and pink cotton candy, their tiny mouths nibbling away eagerly.

Rosalie slammed the cone in her hand down onto the table, and her furious gaze came to rest on Mike. Everyone was now watching the scene unfold, and Mike was all too aware that she was about to let him have it. He waved his arms in front of his face frantically.

"Its not me – don't blame me – if you want to know whose fault it is, look at your boyfriend. It's been him this whole time, just look in his cabin – those things belong to one of _his_ campers, not mine!" Mike yelped defensively.

There was a sharp intake of breath from those of us who had known the truth the entire time, and each of our gazes shifted to Emmett, who was just coming back down the hill from returning some of the carnival equipment to the shed. He was whistling as he walked, looking completely carefree as he tossed a pebble from hand to hand. When he reached the bottom of the hill he finally noticed the still atmosphere around him, and looked from person to person curiously. When he saw Rosalie, he froze. She already had her hand on the door to his cabin, and was about to go inside – there was no stopping her this time.

"The jig is up!" Emmett declared as he turned and ran back up the hill into the forest. Rosalie yanked the door open and entered the cabin. The second she was inside she screamed out in surprise, followed by a series of thrashing sounds and cursing. A few minutes later she came running out of the cabin, her hair flying around her wildly.

"Get it off of me or I swear I'll kill the damn thing!" she screeched, arms flailing. Tufts of blonde flew in the air surrounding her as she spun in circles.

"Looks like Emmett found his kitten again," Jasper murmured quietly. The rest of us nodded warily; having witnessed the cat's behavioral issues enough before, none of us wanted to go near it. Angela, Jessica and Mike stared in disbelief, but finally Alice sighed and stepped forward to offer her help. After more curse words from Rosalie, and careful work from Alice , the cat released itself from Rosalie's hair and leapt to the ground, running off into the woods hissing madly.

Rosalie curtly thanked Alice for her help then stormed off into her cabin with the door slamming loudly behind her, most likely to try and calm down before the kids got back. I had to wonder whether her trying to suppress her anger would make it better or worse by the time she got hold of Emmett.

Edward sighed and collected Sammy and Fred, and we went to return them to Emmett's cabin – Edward mumbled something about just how attached Simon was to them, and how he couldn't stand hearing the boy's thoughts if he lost them.

When we stepped into the cabin I looked around speechlessly. Suddenly I felt like we'd stepped into the forest instead of a cabin. The walls and ceiling were all covered in various types of small tree limbs – I couldn't even imagine how they were affixed, but Edward noticed me staring and answered before I could ask by murmuring, "Nail gun."

There were rocks and twigs scattered randomly across the surface of the floor, and all the kids' bunks had a diverse assortment of tree branches attached to the head and foot rails. Even the chests which stored the kids' belongings and clothes were covered in bundles of twigs and leaves – it was bizarre. There was a long metal trough of water along the back wall – it was like some sort of mini, narrow pond or something, complete with lily pads and weeds. Then I noticed the shreds of lettuce, and scattered nuts and berries across the floor – of course I should have realized he'd have to be feeding all of these things.

Once I'd gotten past the décor of the cabin, my gaze slowly travelled over the room, and I began to see sets of eyes glowing curiously back at me from various hiding places among the debris. There were a couple of squirrels resting atop the branches on one of the walls, and there was a chipmunk scurrying along the baseboard of the other walls. I looked closer as one of the rocks appeared to be moving, but then noticed that it was covered with almost a dozen tiny little lizards, who were now seeking cover due to our presence.

The sound of scratching made me turn around quickly, but I didn't see what was causing it. Edward motioned to the top bunk nearby, and then gestured to the underneath part of it. I hesitantly leaned over and looked up – a possum was hanging from the wooden slats, but it had pulled itself up so it was concealed from view. A possum – what kid on earth could sleep in this place, surrounded by all of these crawling, climbing, _hanging_ things? These boys didn't make any sense**. **

A big splash sounded from the trough of water, and I looked over at Edward in alarm, who explained it was just a frog. Upon closer inspection I also saw the large turtle that had previously been hanging from Emmett's backside – it was resting under one of the bunks near the back, close to the water. It was watching us warily, as if warning us not to come too close. Raising my gaze to the bunk itself, I saw the cage that must be home to Sammy and Fred, and as if to confirm my suspicions, Edward moved forward and placed the two guinea pigs inside of it, making sure the door was latched securely.

"Edward – do the kids actually like it in here – I mean, they're not scared?" I asked quietly. "Aren't any of these animals a danger to them – I mean a snapping turtle isn't the friendliest sort of thing…and I may not know much about animals, but I'm guessing that possum would be fairly aggravated when there are a bunch of hyper kids hanging around in here…" I added as I took another look around the cabin.

He shook his head. "Emmett may act like an idiot a great deal of the time, but after the first couple of incidents in here he's learned to take…precautions at night or when otherwise necessary. He's built assorted types of cages from scraps he dug out of Jasper's shed and keeps the more…risky animals in them underneath the back of the cabin where there's a bit of a crawlspace when he needs to. It's where the possum and the turtle usually are…it's typically only when the cabin is mostly empty that he has those inside – like now, for instance. And as far as the children, well they actually love it in here – young boys are all about these things – the dirt, the creatures – all of it. They think it's one of the coolest things they've ever seen," he explained.

I simply stared at Edward at this latest revelation. I had to blink for a few minutes before I could regain my thoughts and continue. "I guess if nothing else, all of this nonsense has distracted him from that Forest Fairy thing…he _has_ at least let that go, hasn't he?"

"Yes, he's let that go; after his encounter with Rosalie in the woods during the scavenger hunt when she discovered all the things that had been stuffed into that tree he decided it wasn't worth it…he'd been happy to get away without her finding the turtle that day, and ever since he's been…well, preoccupied," Edward replied as he gestured around the cabin.

"Right…" I trailed off, still taking everything in. My gaze came to rest on a cage that was lined with pine needles, lying in the middle of the floor as if something had thrown it carelessly aside. "What was in that?" I asked, motioning to the deserted makeshift shelter.

Edward rolled his eyes. "The cat was in that…to keep the peace during the carnival, Emmett thought it best to keep it…separate from the other things in here. Rosalie was going to get all of the animals out of here when she first saw them, but things didn't go quite as planned when she chose to free it first – as you saw," he murmured.

"Uh huh…and all the noises we've heard coming from here – I'm guessing they usually involve that kitten?" I questioned, glancing around warily to ensure it hadn't somehow snuck back inside after freeing itself from Rosalie's hair.

"Yes…that and the guinea pigs – as you know Simon has quite the habit of letting them enjoy their periodical freedom. Oh – and the squirrels are to blame as well," he said motioning to the animals on the branches. "They're a flying variety, and when Emmett brings that cat inside, unless he immediately secludes it away from the other inhabitants, everything goes kind of crazy since it's usually intent on catching and eating most of the things in here," he added.

"Wait – the squirrels can _fly_?" I'd heard of flying squirrels, but I'd never seen one… I began backing slowly towards the door, eager to escape this weird environment before I had the chance to witness it firsthand. Edward merely nodded in response to my question and followed close behind me, just as ready to leave the strange environment as I was.

Just before stepping out of the cabin, I turned to look into Edward's eyes. "When we get home, I think maybe it's time Emmett find a hobby…I don't think the video games are really cutting it anymore," I mumbled.

"Clearly," Edward murmured back, pulling the cabin's door securely shut behind him.

Back outside, the rest of us finished removing the remains of the carnival and just as we were finishing, Sue, Carlisle and Esme returned with the campers. They also brought more sandwiches for those of us that hadn't gone up to dinner. Conveniently enough, Emmett followed close behind them, almost as if he'd been watching from a distance to see when he could safely return and not have Rosalie be able to yell at him. She glared at him as she welcomed back her girls, and looked over her shoulder once more before closing her cabin door behind her.

After I had eaten and the kids were all in bed, the usual group found ourselves settled in at Jasper's. Emmett had been the first to leave the campsite – he'd gotten his kids quickly settled and taken off before Rosalie had finished reading her nightly story to her campers.

With the long day we'd had, I couldn't wait until I could curl up on one of the plush couches. Granted I'd be more likely to get a solid night's sleep if I stayed in my own cabin, but there was no resisting the pull of that luxurious shower, not to mention being able to sleep in Edward's arms again…no, there was really no choice in the matter anymore, regardless of the quality of sleep.

**A/N: I know it was a bit short, but I've been crazy busy with the holidays coming up, please forgive me! And please remember to leave a review. :)**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Sorry for the delay in updates, but the holidays just got a bit crazy. Anyway, on with the story - and Happy New Year to all of you!**

_(Previously):_

_Just before stepping out of Emmett's cabin, I turned to look into Edward's eyes. "When we get home, I think maybe it's time Emmett find a hobby…I don't think the video games are really cutting it anymore," I mumbled._

"_Clearly," Edward murmured back, pulling the cabin's door securely shut behind him._

_Back outside, the rest of us finished removing the remains of the carnival and just as we were finishing, Sue, Carlisle and Esme returned with the campers. They also brought more sandwiches for those of us that hadn't gone up to dinner. Conveniently enough, Emmett followed close behind them, almost as if he'd been watching from a distance to see when he could safely return and not have Rosalie be able to yell at him. She glared at him as she welcomed back her girls, and looked over her shoulder once more before closing her cabin door behind her._

_After I had eaten and the kids were all in bed, the usual group found ourselves settled in at Jasper's. Emmett had been the first to leave the campsite – he'd gotten his kids quickly settled and taken off before Rosalie had finished reading her nightly story to her campers._

_With the long day we'd had, I couldn't wait until I could curl up on one of the plush couches. Granted I'd be more likely to get a solid night's sleep if I stayed in my own cabin, but there was no resisting the pull of that luxurious shower, not to mention being able to sleep in Edward's arms again…no, there was really no choice in the matter anymore, regardless of the quality of sleep._

**Chapter 22: **

Hours later as I lay half-asleep in Edward's arms fighting against the variety of sounds surrounding me, I began to question my own ability to make the right decisions.

"I can't believe him – why is he so incredibly annoying?" a voice hissed from somewhere nearby.

"I say we have some fun with him," another voice replied.

"I don't know…maybe we should just go sit upstairs for a while, and when he looks in the window he'll be satisfied that it looks boring here and go away," someone else said. Wait – that one was Edward. Stretching, I opened my eyes to see what was going on.

"Bella! You're awake – just in time, we're going to have some fun," Alice said, landing daintily on the couch next to my feet.

"Leave her alone, Alice. It's the middle of the night. Just ignore her Bella, and try to get some sleep," Edward said, narrowing his eyes at his sister, who was leaning directly over me, staring enthusiastically.

I propped myself up on one arm. "Forget it Edward – I'm up now. What are you all whispering about anyway? Who's incredibly annoying?" I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

"Mike Newton, that's who – he saw us leaving camp earlier, and has been waiting to see when we would come back; we've been gone so long, he's decided to come to Jasper's cabin and see what's going on," Alice said, rolling her eyes. She must have had a vision of his decision. "He's so irritated with most of us that he thinks he's going to be able to sneak up on us and TP Jasper's cabin."

"Yeah, and instead, we're going to have some fun with _him_," Emmett chuckled, elbowing Jasper in the side.

"What are you going to do?" I asked.

"We're going to scare him to death, that's what," Emmett said. "Jasper – you got that key to the storage shed? I'm going to look for some props. Alice – how long till he gets close?"

Alice concentrated briefly. "About forty minutes – he hasn't left camp yet, he's looking for something…a flashlight, I think," she replied as Jasper tossed Emmett a key from his pocket.

Emmett was gone and back in less than five minutes. "I found some awesome stuff – I set is out back. Now, who's in? I know my job, but what about the rest of you guys – any takers?"

"Me!" Alice answered, throwing her hand into the air as she bounced in place.

"Definitely me," Jasper agreed, nodding his head. "That kid's been a constant nuisance since we got here."

Everyone glanced from Edward to me. I didn't see the harm, and I _was_ wide awake now. "Ok, I'm in," I said, shrugging my shoulders. I was still kind of mad about Mike for having those thoughts about me during the kite episode anyway.

Edward sighed. "All right, we're in, but we're staying on the sidelines of the action," he said, studying Emmett; he was obviously listening to Emmett's plan of attack in his head.

After a moment, Edward started nodding, chuckling to himself. "Nice plan, Em. That gives me an idea… Alice, can I borrow your Blackberry?" he asked. She tossed it over, mumbling about suddenly not being able to see how things would go.

Edward turned on the device and punched in some numbers. "Hello – Seth? How are you? Good, good. I was wondering…are you busy tonight? Say about thirty minutes from now?" he nodded in response to whatever Seth said, then began reciting our location and specific directions, explaining our situation. He was laughing along with Seth as he disconnected the call.

"Come on, let's get outside so we can get ready," Emmett said, taking the lead. We all followed, Edward carefully guiding me out the back tunnel through the wide cellar doors. When we emerged, I saw that we were about thirty yards from the storage shed behind Jasper's cabin.

Alice pointed out the direction she had seen Mike coming from earlier, but said she couldn't guarantee anything since Edward had involved Seth.

"Edward, Bella – you two follow me," Emmett said. He was clearly in charge of the situation. We followed him into the main, rundown level of Jasper's cabin, where Edward settled into a chair in the corner and Emmett told me to lie on the couch. He disappeared into the kitchen, then was back seconds later. He had two knives in his hands, and I watched as he effortlessly snapped the blades off of each – once again reminding me of how impenetrable their skin was. He pulled some tape from his pocket and secured the first bladeless handle to the front of Edward's chest, then had me roll over onto my stomach, with my arms dangling off the edge of the couch and taped the second knife handle to the center of my back. Snorting, he pulled a bottle of something out of his other pocket – ketchup.

I barely had time to wince before he splashed the cool stuff all over each of us, effectively pooling it around our 'wounds.' I had to admit, if someone glanced in the window it would look pretty gruesome.

Emmett stepped back to admire his work. "Nice," he commented. "All right – I've got to get out there. You'll hear him coming Edward." A second later, he was gone.

"What exactly does he have planned, Edward? I mean aside from having it appear that we were brutally murdered, of course," I asked.

"Well, Jasper's hidden out in the woods – he's going to be messing with Newton's fear levels. Alice is up in the trees; she'll be following him as he runs through the woods, rustling the branches and leaves to make it seem like something is tracking him from above. Seth said he'd be on the forest's edge, ready to add to the fun in his own way," Edward explained.

"What about Emmett? What's he doing?" I asked.

Edward paused, listening to something I couldn't hear. "You'll find out soon enough, Bella," he said, leaning back and closing his eyes, motioning with his hands for me to do the same. Mike must be close.

*THUD* I cracked an eye open, and Edward lightly shook his head at me, as if silently telling me not to move.

*THUD…Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud*

The sound of the roll of toilet paper bouncing off the tin roof of the cabin was distracting, and I wondered what Emmett was waiting on. A second later, I had my answer.

Mike must have wondered if he was being heard, and decided to peek in the window. He must have seen Edward and me, because he suddenly let out an ear-piercing scream that broke the silence surrounding us. As if on cue, a motor ripped into life from behind the house, and the back door to the cabin slammed shut, as Emmett came tearing through to the living room.

My head still down, I couldn't help but peek out of the corner of my eye. Emmett was making his way to the front door, a hockey mask covering his face, waving a roaring chainsaw above his head. He tore the front door open, waving the chainsaw threateningly, and Mike stood frozen in shock for a second. He stumbled back, then turned and took off into the woods, screaming at the top of his lungs as he went, with Emmett pursuing him.

The second they were gone, Edward and I erupted into hysterical laughter. "Did you see Emmett? That would scare anyone," I managed to spit out in between fits.

"Forget Emmett – I was facing the door, you should have seen Newton's face," Edward said, shaking his head. "That was absolutely priceless. Come on – let's go see the damage the others cause," he added. He pulled me off the couch and slung me over his back before running into the darkness of the woods.

He came to a stop behind a tree about five minutes later, and I peered into the darkness. We'd stopped hearing the chainsaw a minute or two ago, and for a second I wondered what I was supposed to be seeing. Edward inclined his head in the direction of a series of bushes, and when I looked closer, I saw that they were trembling.

Suddenly, a lone wolf howl erupted into the night. From somewhere above us, the tree limbs began to shake and rustle at an unnatural rate. The howl switched over to a menacing growl, and at that, Mike popped up from the bushes and began running again, branches caught in his hair, his eyes huge and looking all around him in panic.

The rustling followed him from above, and we followed on the ground. Edward kept us in the shadows, following his every move. Mike made it to a sort of clearing when he had to stop to catch his breath. He clutched his sides as he leaned up against a massive tree.

I wondered where Jasper was and if he was even bothering to make things worse for Mike at this point – I doubted it was necessary given his appearance. When Mike had stopped at the tree, Alice had stopped too, and Seth must have taken a break. It was absolutely silent - aside from Mike's gasping breaths. Once he'd managed to catch his breath, he seemed to notice the silence too, and for a second relief crossed his features.

That was when a shining silver hook swung around from the back of the tree and sunk into the bark right beside his head.

*_WHACK_*

Mike's eyes slowly turned to the side and looked at the hook. He stared at it for half a second, and then, with another ear-piercing shriek, took off into the forest again. Emmett glanced over at us, the hockey mask resting on top of his head now; his entire frame was shaking in silent laughter.

"Edward, where the heck did he get that hook?" I said in wonder.

"It was in the shed – it seems they used to do skits here or something – there were a lot of odd bits of costumes, and he found it in a pile of pirate paraphernalia," Edward whispered back.

Alice hopped down from a nearby tree. "Yeah, you should have seen all the stuff he found in an old trunk. That hockey mask for instance – it was with a bunch of knee pads and stuff; they must have had Field Hockey as one of their activities one year," she said, skipping over to us gracefully.

"Well that was certainly entertaining," Jasper said, stepping out from a tree behind us. I didn't even know he'd been there. "I didn't have to influence his emotions at all – he was truly terrified," he added.

"That was a lot of fun…thanks for the call, Edward," Seth said, emerging from the shadows back in his human form.

"Where did he go? Do you think he went in the right direction? I'd feel kind of bad if he got lost," I murmured.

"Don't worry, Bella. We've been steering him back towards camp the whole time. Five more minutes in the direction he went and he'll break the tree line and be back at the cabins," Edward assured me.

"Isn't he still going to be freaking out when he gets there – aren't you worried he'll wake up the whole camp screaming about mass murderers?" I wondered aloud – I hadn't really thought about that.

Alice smiled. "While I was up in the trees, I took a few minutes to return to camp and sneak into his cabin. I left one of the rolls of toilet paper he dropped and a note for him on his pillow," she said simply.

Edward leaned in close to my ear, sensing my confusion over her odd reply. "The note said, '_After the scare you've had tonight, we thought you might need this more than Jasper's roof. Nice try though_.'"

Having overheard his explanation of Alice's note, Seth erupted into loud laughter. "You're something else, Alice," he finally managed to get out.

Alice tentatively smiled back at Seth, her expression a mixture of satisfaction and wariness; she seemed to like being told she was incredibly clever, but Seth's ability to prevent her from seeing the future was obviously still irritating her.

Edward invited Seth back to Jasper's cabin to play video games with them, and he happily agreed. Edward looked truly happy to see Seth – they'd formed quite the camaraderie after the confrontation with Victoria. He seemed like a good kid.

Seth was quite impressed with the improvised living conditions, and marveled at all the same things I had before he settled in for a racing match with Edward, Emmett and Jasper. After I showered yet again to remove the sticky residue left by the ketchup, I changed into a pair of pajama's Alice had for me – she'd ordered them just in case, of course, and Alice curled up next to me on the couch, happily turning through the pages of a design magazine seemingly content that we'd had enough excitement for the night. She was making a separate pile to give to Rosalie in the morning. My eyes began fighting me and before I knew it I'd drifted back off to sleep.

**A/N: Only one more chapter left - please review!**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: *sigh* This is it...the last chapter. I'm sort of sad it's ending, but they have to go home at some point, right? Now - to address the question that seems to be asked most - am I going to write another sequel to this? The answer: I don't know. I have limited time right now, so it won't be anytime real soon if I do. I have an idea for it, but finding the time to translate that onto paper is something else entirely - as many of you know. Anyway, if you have me on author alert then you'll get notice if I ever do start it. I can't thank all of you enough for reading this story (as well as my other ones). Thank you, thank you, thank you! And thank you for all of your awesome reviews - I really do read all of them, they're so much fun. OH - and another thing, I'm not entirely ruling out adding some OUTTAKES to this story, so if there's something you'd like to read about that I didn't cover, request it in a review and I'll see if I can find the time to write it out. Ok, enough from me - here's the last chapter! **

_(Previously):_

_Edward invited Seth back to Jasper's cabin to play video games with them, and he happily agreed. Edward looked truly happy to see Seth – they'd formed quite the camaraderie after the confrontation with Victoria. He seemed like a good kid._

_Seth was quite impressed with the improvised living conditions, and marveled at all the same things I had before he settled in for a racing match with Edward, Emmett and Jasper. After I showered yet again to remove the sticky residue left by the ketchup, I changed into a pair of pajama's Alice had for me – she'd ordered them just in case, of course, and Alice curled up next to me on the couch, happily turning through the pages of a design magazine seemingly content that we'd had enough excitement for the night. She was making a separate pile to give to Rosalie in the morning. My eyes began fighting me and before I knew it I'd drifted back off to sleep. _

**Chapter 23:**

The morning came quickly, but not quickly enough for me to regret staying here; sometimes sleep deprivation was just worth it, and this place was pure bliss compared to our cabins. If all I had to do was sacrifice a few hours of sleep as a side-effect to being surrounded by overly enthusiastic vampires all night, well – it was a sacrifice worth making. That, and Mike's expression when he saw Emmett last night with the chainsaw…yes, that alone made me fall asleep with a smile on my face. It wasn't like me to feel such aggravation toward someone, but in this case I thought it was fairly justified. I'd been about as patient as a person could be concerning Mike, and enough was enough. Anyway, since the kids would be picked up early this morning, I would be home soon and I could take as many naps as I wanted…at least in between all the arguing that would likely be going on between Emmett and Rosalie. Surely he had it coming to him after his ridiculous behavior here, and she hadn't had the chance to corner him yet.

Once back in my cabin I followed the usual pretenses of crawling under my covers and stretching as I switched the ringing alarm off. My bleary eyed campers rose slowly, and I caught myself feeling sentimental which really surprised me. My gaze came to rest on Sophie, who was sitting up in bed grinning at me, her soft curls gently framing her face. I smiled back and thought about how much she'd changed since she'd been here. She went from a skittish girl afraid to leave her counselor's side to a somewhat more relaxed girl who had made quite a few good friends. They'd all exchanged phone numbers and information, so I was hoping they'd remain friends for some time.

"Morning Sophie," I whispered, still grinning. She was so happy and eager to greet me that she jumped out of bed too quickly; her left foot was still wrapped up in the sheets and she flipped over the side of her bunk, stuck in an awkward position – thankfully she was on the lower bunk or it could have been much worse. I carefully untangled her and helped her to her feet while smiling warmly at her. Once stable, she gently hugged me before skipping over to her dresser to get her clothes out, and I moved on to help everyone else get their things together.

The mood of the entire camp was a bit sullen as we gathered around the flagpole one last time. Today Batman blinked down at us from the top of the flagpole before the morning ceremony began, and I had to wonder when Emmett had found the time to put the boxers up there - it must have been after the horror movie reenactment, when I'd fallen back asleep.

When Mike and his group appeared at the top of the hill, Edward, Alice and Jasper were all sneaking glances at him out of the corner of their eyes, but Mike wasn't looking anywhere aside from the ground. When he thought nobody was looking he snuck a glance towards the top of the flagpole, grimaced, and focused back on the dirt at his feet. No doubt after the events of last night, the sight of his underwear greeting him from above yet again was just another slap in the face for him.

For the second time that week Emmett's group was absent for the flag ceremony and Rosalie impatiently insisted we proceed; her irritation with her husband was barely concealed as it was, and none of us wanted to push her any further. I remembered overhearing Alice remind him that he could pick up his 'special order' from the shop this morning, so that must be where they were.

Somewhere around ten minutes into breakfast Emmett and his group arrived. As they entered the hall I blinked several times, adjusting to their appearances. Each of the boys Mohawks were now completely concealed under vibrantly colored Mullet wigs – tiny heads of blue, hot pink, bright orange, and neon green made their way to the food line as the rest of the room stared in surprise. The other campers seemed to think they were either cool or funny, and just smiled at their friends or asked where they'd gotten the things. Carlisle sucked in his breath as he fought for the appropriate words, and I swear I heard Esme gasp in surprise from behind the lunch counter.

Emmett sat down proudly at our table. "Told you I would come up with something," he grinned. "I told them they were a tribute to the camp owner and marked us as the coolest group – you know, 'brotherhood' and all that," he said as he pounded his chest with his fist twice and made some sign with his hand. "They're not allowed to take them off until they're home – in respect of our last day at camp, of course," he added, his smile widening. I couldn't help but notice he was still avoiding Rosalie – he hadn't even looked at her yet. If he had, he probably would have been surprised to see that she wasn't glaring at him – actually, I couldn't even tell if she'd noticed the florescent hairstyles at all; she was oddly quiet, restlessly pushing the food on her tray around with her fork.

Apparently unable to think of anything to say at all, Carlisle just exhaled and shook his head while he ran his hands over his face. I had to wonder if he was re-thinking his theory on how his vampire children should volunteer to give back to society yet.

As we neared the end of breakfast, Sue arrived to wish everyone farewell before the parents arrived. She stopped in her tracks when she saw Emmett's kids – they bore a striking resemblance to her own hairstyle minus the coloring. When told they'd gotten the wigs at the camp store and that they were in honor of her, Sue beamed and complimented the boys on them; she took it as an incredible compliment and even mentioned something about getting more for next year.

In her closing speech she thanked all the campers, counselors and volunteers. She expressed her high hopes for the next season, and encouraged both campers and volunteers to return. I thought she'd be lucky to have even half of the kids return after they got home and their parents found the surplus of designer clothing in their bags – it was supposed to be a luxury-free camp, not to mention the parents who would be happy to remove the gaudy wigs from their kids' heads, only to discover they'd had their real hair shaved into a Mohawk…

Just as they'd been dropped off at the beginning of the week, the kids were picked up as their parents' cars pulled up one by one. Edward's goodbyes were fairly easy – he was able to pick up on any thoughts or concerns of his campers and address them quickly – such as if they were worrying about staying in contact with their new friends, he would instantly assure them they'd all be friends for a long time to come without the kid even speaking a word aloud.

Mike's kids departed fairly quickly too – they didn't seem all that attached to their counselor, and Mike's mind seemed to be somewhere else anyway. I couldn't help but notice that quite a few times when a car door slammed he'd jump and look around nervously, only to glare in the Cullen's direction moments later.

Alice was again circling her group, straightening all their little outfits and smoothing the clothing into perfect place. I could tell she was trying to be methodical about it but that she was having a hard time letting go – she'd had ten little girls to dress any way she'd wanted all week, and obviously she didn't want to lose them. As each of them prepared to leave, Alice broke down and pulled each one up into an embrace, hugging them fiercely as their little legs swung unsteadily in the air. No wonder she'd worn long sleeves in the middle of summer – she must have seen this coming.

Emmett was back to high-fiving each of his campers as they climbed into their parent's cars. I noticed one of the parents reach over to try and remove the wig from their child's head, and Emmett ran to the window waving his hands wildly. The boy's hands flew up to his head and held onto the wig tightly while shaking his head at his mother in protest, who luckily gave up easily and drove off. Emmett's last camper to leave was Simon, who he was whispering to off in the corner, probably making sure he had Sammy and Fred safely tucked away in his bag.

As I glanced away from the two of them, my gaze came to rest upon Rosalie. I'd been avoiding watching her – it was just too sad. She was heartbroken, and what was worse was that her campers looked just as distraught. She was down to five girls now, and as I watched them being practically dragged off by their parents, I was grateful I hadn't noticed the first five leave. Hers was the only group that the parents had to actually get out of their cars to collect their children – with Rosalie glaring resentfully at them as they did. Her behavior only became increasingly strange as more and more campers were picked up; she kept watching warily as each car approached, then seemed to go back and forth between looking anxious and upset again. For someone who didn't want to see her campers leave, she certainly seemed to be glancing at her watch an awful lot.

All of my campers aside from Sophie had been picked up already, and I'd said goodbye to each of them fairly easily – we'd gotten along well since all of our personalities were similar, but we just weren't as attached as Rosalie and her kids had been. When I recognized the blue station wagon Sophie had been dropped off in at the beginning of the week, I began to question my own conclusion as my heart began to drop. The little hand I held in my own gripped tighter, as if she understood me and agreed – we didn't really want to say goodbye.

A tiny tear ran down Sophie's cheek, and I wiped it away quickly. "No crying, Sophie. We had lots of fun, right? Well that's nothing to cry about, is it? Anytime you start to feel sad about missing this place, just think of all the silly things we did and all the friends you made – you'll probably see them again if you get to come back next year," I said as cheerfully as I could manage. I wouldn't be back, but perhaps she would get another counselor who would connect with her like I did.

She smiled up at me, and then hugged my leg tightly. "Thank you Bella. You're the best camp leader _ever. _And I hope you and Mr. Edward are happy forever and ever, just like in the fairytales," she whispered before turning and running to her mother's car. Just as quickly as her hand disappeared from mine, Edward's cool grip replaced it, and I leaned gratefully into his side as I waved at the departing car, fighting to keep my own tears at bay.

With all the campers gone, Sue was closing up the mess hall, saying something about a cleaning crew coming by later that afternoon. Each of the Cullen couples stood together at the front of the camp, all oddly quiet. Rosalie was pacing now, obviously anxious to get home now that the kids were gone, and Emmett was timidly trying to reach out to comfort her, but she would just growl when he approached, completely brushing him off.

Carlisle and Esme thanked Sue again for allowing us to take part in her camp and then turned to the rest of us. Smiling, he tossed each of his children their cell phones, and then said they would see us at home and made their way to the Mercedes.

After loading our bags into the trunk, Edward was holding the car door open for me when Alice and Jasper hopped into the backseat. "Aren't you guys riding with Emmett and Rosalie? You came here in their car," I asked, confused. I wasn't exactly in the mood for the blaring music that usually accompanied Alice's presence in a vehicle.

Alice shook her head. "No, I don't think that's a good idea," she said, glancing over at the Jeep in the parking lot next to us. Rosalie was hurrying Emmett, impatiently tapping her fingers on the steering wheel as he fussed around with their bags. I wondered why _she_ was driving…maybe she was just taking his driving privileges away as punishment like she had at the end of our last trip or something; that seemed oddly mild for her.

The second Emmett was halfway in the passenger seat and before he'd even managed to pull his door shut, Rosalie spun the tires and tore out of the parking lot, sending gravel flying everywhere. Edward growled, and once again I patted his arm reassuringly. He sighed and backed out of the lot, following behind the Jeep.

"Well, as much as I'm going to miss those little girls, I'm so glad to be going back home – I'm tired of all this outdoors business," Alice chirped from the backseat.

"_Outdoors business_? Alice, you've practically been living in a luxurious suite the entire week," I muttered.

"Hardly, Bella – granted it was enough to make us…comfortable, but I can't wait to get back to my closet and all its contents. I know, the first thing we'll do is re-organize all of it by color, then we'll go shopping for you and pick up similar items and organize a section of Edward's closet for you the same way. We'll be able to coordinate just like my campers – how fun is _that_!?" Alice exclaimed excitedly. Oh crap – I should've seen that coming. I needed to change the subject and fast.

"You know, if all Rosalie is going to do is not let Emmett drive, he's only likely to do something like this again if given the opportunity," I said, still wondering at the lack of response from Rosalie. Last time she'd gone ballistic.

Edward chuckled quietly. "Oh don't worry, she's going to put him in his place after we've gotten home, it's just that, well…Rosalie's been a bit distracted, love."

"What do you mean? What could be more important to her than keeping Emmett in line?" I asked.

"You'll find out in a few seconds," Edward replied cryptically. I glanced at him and as Alice giggled from behind me, he pointed at the Jeep in front of us. "Keep watching," he instructed. I moved closer in my seat, squinting. I felt like I have having déjà-vu from our last camping trip.

As I watched, a blanket in the back of the Jeep began to move. A second later a tiny blonde head popped up – it was one of Rosalie's campers, the child from the foster home. Emmett's hands began waving wildly in the air, motioning back and forth between Rosalie and the child.

"What – on - _earth_? Is that _Emma_ in the Jeep? What – what about her foster parents?" I asked in shock, stumbling over my own words.

"Rosalie has decided she'd be a much better mother for her and taken it upon herself to be judge and jury of the situation," Edward explained. "Emmett is trying to convince her to turn around and take the child back to camp," he added smoothly, as we continued to watch Emmett's animated conversation with his wife. He was shaking his head and becoming more animated by the second. Now he was waving his cell phone in the air threateningly.

"_She smuggled a child out of camp_?!" I asked in awe.

The Jeep abruptly swerved to the side of the road as Rosalie slammed on the brakes. Edward slowed behind her, and I waited while I expected to see Rosalie turn the Jeep back in the direction of camp. Instead, the passenger side of the Jeep suddenly exploded and Emmett went hurtling into the air, clutching the door just as he had the last time we were on our way home from camping. Rosalie turned and said something to the girl, then sped off down the road. Amazing – this time, it was _Rosalie_ who was the one hiding things.

Our vehicle still sat idling quietly on the side of the road, all of us gazing at Emmett, who was sitting on the forest floor dazed. I turned to look at Edward in wonder.

"He wouldn't let her keep the child – he said if she didn't turn around, he'd just call someone and say there'd been a mistake, and arrange for her to be picked up at our house," Edward explained. "He didn't want her to get in trouble."

"_Will_ she get in trouble? I mean…how is she going to explain this? How did this even happen anyway?" I asked incredulously.

Alice sighed. "Well, with foster care the arrangements for Emma to go to camp had to be made through the agency, so they were the ones that would be providing transportation rather than the foster parents. Rosalie called the Children's Services agency yesterday and left an anonymous message informing them the pick-up time for this morning had been changed to a half hour later than it actually was…so they would be late, and she could take Emma with her. Then she told Emma that they were going to play a game of hide and seek and had her hide in the Jeep after breakfast. Of course Emma loves Rose, so she doesn't care about any of it and will just say it was a game – because to her it _was_ - and Rose has effectively covered her own tracks and can say that nobody had been there to pick the child up, and she couldn't leave her behind. As far as what she thought she would do once she got the girl home…who knows? She wasn't even sure herself, she just didn't want to give her up yet. It doesn't matter anyway – her foster parents are going to officially adopt her next week as a surprise and they're all going to be very happy," Alice surmised, obviously having searched the future.

"Wow. Is Emma scared? I mean…Rosalie just _literally_ kicked Emmett out of the Jeep," I wondered out loud, almost to myself.

Edward shrugged. "That girl is so attached to Rosalie that not much would strike her as scary. Rosalie told her that it should be girls only in their car."

"Err…huh," I stuttered, trying to find something to say. "Well I guess she can't really get mad at him for the whole animal thing now…kidnapping is a _much_ more serious issue," I muttered.

"Well kidnapping certainly wouldn't be the _worst_ crime our family has ever committed, but it would be near the top of the list," Jasper said quietly from the backseat as he looked out the window.

I blinked. "Um…should we offer him a ride or something?" I asked, motioning to Emmett, who was still sitting in the same place, looking like he wasn't quite sure what had happened.

Edward shrugged, as if considering it. I rolled down my window to call out to Emmett, but just as I was about to speak a flash of fur flew through the air and landed on Emmett's head, hissing and scratching wildly.

"_SPAZ_!!!!! You came back!!!!!!!!!!!" Emmett yelled, trying to grasp hold of the menace attacking his head.

"Oh hell no," Alice muttered, and my window was quickly raised as Edward controlled it from the little panel on his door.

"He's on his own," Edward agreed, and pulled the car back onto the road. I glanced back out the window at Emmett, who was rolling around the forest floor laughing loudly while the feral cat continued its angry attack.

We'd only driven about half a mile when Edward's cell started ringing. He flipped it open and before he could even manage a greeting, a loud, irritated voice began flowing through the air from the tiny object.

"Would someone mind telling me _why_, not five minutes after Esme and I arrived home there was a car here from Children's Services looking for a missing camper? Or _why_ a little boy named Simon who's still wearing a bright blue wig got dropped off here by his father asking if Emmett was home yet so they could start building something called 'The Shelter for Homeless and Neglected or Otherwise Unfortunate Animals'? And if nobody has any insight to either of those things, then surely someone in that car can explain to me why there is a moving truck parked in this driveway full of enough brand new items to fully furnish a small _house_?!" Carlisle's voice boomed through the phone.

"I'm sorry, Carlisle –" *_static noises_* "You're breaking up –" *_static noises_* "Talk to you later –" Edward mumbled before clicking the phone shut.

"Nice, Alice – you know you'll never hear the end of that when we get home," Edward said irritably. "Now I know why you were blocking part of your thoughts, anyway."

"I kind of got attached to some of that stuff…I'll donate it – _eventually_. I just thought maybe you and Bella could use it after you get married or something," Alice mumbled. She really did have a problem with letting things go. I wondered what it would be like to spend eternity around a pack-rat vampire sister – a lot of stuff would start to accumulate.

I thought about what we were about to face back at the Cullen's – it didn't look good. "Anyone want to go for tacos?" I asked.

The three occupants of the car who didn't eat food nodded agreeably, clearly as eager to put off the unpleasant welcoming we had coming for a bit longer. After riding in silence for a few minutes, I began giggling uncontrollably.

"'The Shelter for Homeless and Neglected or Otherwise Unfortunate Animals' – what is _that_ all about?" I gasped in between breaths.

Edward, Alice and Jasper all erupted into uncontrollable laughter too, and as we drove off towards town, I was fairly certain Carlisle would think twice before ever asking his children to do anything charitable again – and that he would never, ever send us back to the woods.

**A/N: Last chance - please review! And remember to request any outtakes you'd like to possibly see. Thanks! ~Leesa**


	24. OUTTAKE: Newton's POV for Chapter 21

**A/N: Hi everyone -  
I am posting the first outtake; it's Newton's POV of Chapter 22 (the horror movie reenactment). Honestly it's not very good - I know it's not, but it's as good as it's going to get for now, lol - sorry. Please be kind.**

**OUTTAKE: Newton's POV of Chapter 22**

Freaking stupid, idiotic Cullens...their pranks were getting old, especially after the whole itching powder crap. I felt pretty stupid as Daddy C had tactfully explained to me that my skin wasn't under attack from a flesh-eating virus, but that it appeared that I had been exposed to ground up maple seeds – itching powder, basically. I knew that much just from working at my parent's store. Daddy C tried to politely suggest that perhaps I'd fallen or gotten into it during the day's activities somehow, but I could tell he knew better – as did I. There was only one way I'd gotten itching powder all over me in the middle of the night, and I think we both knew what that was. His expression told me as much when I'd huffed out of his office. What was the Cullen's problem, anyway? I mean ok, so I had a crush on Bella – it's not like I made it obvious, so none of them should know about it. They had no reason to resent me, but it was pretty clear they did. Not that I cared – the feeling was mutual - which led me to my current task - revenge.

I'd been talking to Jessica and she'd been going on about how she was going to miss 'the old times' when she goes off to college, and she'd mentioned toilet papering houses on Halloween as an example. I'd noticed earlier when Alice, Emmett, Edward and Bella all disappeared into the woods after everyone else had gone to bed – they had gone in the direction of Jasper's cabin. At first I'd thought about toilet papering the outside of some of their cabins here, but then I thought knowing the conceited Cullen kids, they would make their campers clean it up – Ritalin Alice would probably bribe them with tokens - which wouldn't do me any good.

The longer they took to come back the more I realized they probably _weren't_ coming back – they were having some kind of stupid slumber party in that maintenance cabin. I bet they even had food there – even if the place was a dump they were probably living it up, while I sat back here listening to my annoying campers snore. And with all of them in one location without any campers to pin clean-up duty on…well it didn't take much for me to make up my mind – I would attack them where they least expected me to, at Jasper's. The losers wouldn't even see it coming. It was too bad that Bella had to be a part of it, but since she was always tied to Edward's hip there was no avoiding it. Besides, they'd never be able to prove it was me anyway, so I could always charm my way back into her good graces.

It took a while for me to find my way in the dark with only a flashlight, but I wanted to be sure to stay off the main paths and out of sight. As I stood in front of Jasper's cabin, I listened to see if I could hear anything. It was oddly quiet if they were all here…maybe I'd been wrong. I guess it was possible they went down to the lake. Either way I still had my chance to get revenge - and if they weren't here after all then I could really cover this place from top to bottom. I smirked at the thought of their expressions as they discovered my work…I could only imagine the fit that Alice would throw, and Edward's furious reaction to the fact that someone had finally gotten the better of him. Ha – maybe I would even volunteer to take Bella's place in the clean-up – now _that_ was brilliant! She'd see me as the hero, sweeping in to do her share of the work – HA!

*thud* The roll of toilet paper bounced off the roof. I was hoping it would catch on the gutter and I could loop it back up, but instead it just fell back to the ground. A couple more tries and it still wasn't catching. Maybe I should just switch to the trees and get the cabin later.

I ducked as I crept closer to retrieve the roll of paper. It had bounced off the ground and landed on the edge of the porch after my last attempt; I didn't think anyone was here but I was still being cautious. For all I knew Jasper had stayed behind by himself being the recluse that he is.

There was only a faint hint of light coming out of the front window I was hiding under, and curiosity got the best of me. I slowly raised myself up just enough so I could peek into the cabin and see what this place was really like.

I blinked - and I blinked again. Because what I was seeing couldn't possibly be there. It was a scene straight out of one of those nightmare-inducing movies I hated – I'd never been good with blood and guts. Cullen was sitting in a chair with something that looked like blood all over him, and Bella – BELLA! She was lying on the couch with a knife in her back! Crap! No way – _no way was this real_ – it couldn't be. Then I noticed the knife in Cullen's chest – oh no way, no way, no way…I shook my head, trying to clear it, then looked again. CRAP! They were still there, and they really weren't moving – at all! Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god - this is why it had been so freaking quiet, they'd all been hacked up by some psychopath - the others were probably chopped up and scattered through the back of the cabin! And the psychopath could still be on the loose anywhere! I started stumbling backwards, trying to get enough control to get away – to get anywhere – but I was having a hard time getting my body to communicate with my brain.

A ripping sound suddenly broke the silence of the woods and I froze. What the hell was _that_?! My heart stopped as I recognized the sound…that was a chainsaw…which meant that the psychopath murderer was still here and was coming for me. My head nearly exploded from all the panicked curse words that were racing through it, and my heart leapt into my throat as I frantically started backing towards the woods. I tripped over a tree root, and as I fought to stand back up, the front door to the cabin slammed open, and in its frame stood the hulking figure of the mass murderer, wearing a hockey mask and waving a chainsaw in the air threateningly above him. I was going to die.

A second later adrenaline finally forced my legs into action and I turned and ran flat out into the woods, doing anything I could to get away from the killer, who I could hear following behind. Each time he got a little closer the motor on the saw revved menacingly, and my heart was racing so fast I was pretty sure it had left my body and left me behind.

I froze in shock when the motor suddenly cut out and I was surrounded by quiet again; could I have possibly managed to lose the crazy lunatic? I was spinning in circles, trying to see in the darkness. I wasn't sure where I was exactly, and although my lungs were burning in protest so badly I had to stop, I wasn't going to stand out in the open like an idiot. I crouched down into a bush and hid myself while I gasped for air.

A wolf's howl eerily broke the silence of the woods - a wolf that sounded _really_ freaking close. My mind raced as I realized it probably smelled all the blood from the bodies at Jasper's; maybe I'd lost the chainsaw psycho, but I didn't want to be slowly ripped apart by some rabid wolf either. I was trying to decide if I should stay hidden or run again when the wolf's cry abruptly became a horrid sounding growl…a _hungry_ growl, and it sounded even closer now. The branches above me started rustling crazily as if something was running through them – crap! Was the wolf up in the tree about to pounce on me? AARRGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was moving again, flying blindly through the woods barely managing to miss trees, doing everything I could to get back to camp. I had no idea what I would do once there – I didn't even think I would _make_ it there! Crap, crap, crap!

The wolf's menacing growls were following me, one minute sounding like they were coming from the rustling above, the next minute sounding like they were coming from ground level as if running alongside me. Freaking hell, I'm going to _die_!

I stumbled when suddenly the wolf's growls faded out, going back to the eerie howl from earlier; maybe it had found something more interesting than me. Maybe the Cullen's were finally making themselves useful and their blood was distracting the monster from me – but then I thought of poor Bella again, and my heart plummeted. She should have never been dragged here by Cullen – she should have never been _murdered_! She'd wasted what little of her life she'd had with the biggest loser in town – who now had not only failed to protect her, but managed to get her killed! Panic and horror swept over me, and I had to lean against a tree for support.

With my back resting on a sturdy pine, I fought to catch my breath – and keep whatever tenuous hold I still had on my sanity. My eyes swept the area surrounding me, thankful for the stillness and hoping it would last. After a couple of minutes I was actually beginning to get control of my pulse again, thinking I might actually make it out of here alive after all.

*_WHACK_*

My eyes shifted to the side slowly, only half wanting to see what had made impact with the tree I was resting on. I blinked. Of course it was a hook. A freaking _straight out of the horror stories crazy looking hook_, and it was sunk into the bark just an inch away from my head. Completely irrational, I almost laughed at how close it had come to its mark – almost. Instead I screamed at the top of my lungs and ran like hell back into the woods ahead of me, praying that I had a decent head start while whatever was attached to that hook freed itself from the tree.

I was so confused and lost that I was shocked when moments later I burst through the tree line and found myself back at our camp. I willed myself to keep my terrorized screams stifled – any loud noise would only help signal my location that much faster. It was amazingly quiet now, and that meant one of two things – either everyone was dead here too, or the killer hadn't made it here yet. There was only one way to find out.

I went flying into my cabin gasping, blinking rapidly in the darkness. Taking a deep breath I flicked on the small lamp next to my cot and cracked an eye open to see whether I was surrounded by ten massacred bodies or if I still had a chance of us getting out of here.

Ten pairs of eyes were staring curiously back at me, rubbing the sleep from their eyes. I fell back onto my cot in exhausted relief, huffing as I still fought to catch my breath. Surely we didn't have much time – I had to figure out what to do next and fast. That was when I noticed I was sitting on something unusual. I jumped back up and looked down at the bed. That's when I saw it – a roll of toilet paper and a note.

"_After the scare you've had tonight, we thought you might need this more than Jasper's roof. Nice try though_."

My eyes narrowed as the truth of the situation settled in. I'd been set up. I'd been terrorized and chased through the woods by the very people that I'd tried to get back at tonight. I don't know how they did it…but they did. Which meant nobody was dead, and I was the only real victim of the night.

I threw the toilet paper to the ground angrily, and turned off the lamp. "Go back to sleep," I hissed to the kids who were all staring at me strangely.

As I closed my eyes and tried to calm down, I heard the children's whispers around me.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Shhh…he has really bad dreams, remember?"

Freaking stupid, idiotic, annoying Cullens. Thank god this nightmare of a week would be over tomorrow.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry it wasn't better...I just had a hard time with it for some reason. Remember to please be kind, lol. Please review. **


	25. OUTTAKE: Emmett and the Animals

**A/N: Thanks for all the awesome and encouraging reviews for the last outtake - especially considering I wasn't so sure about it. Here's the second outtake - I've often been asked to explain what Emmett's thinking concerning all the animal nonsense, so this is a brief look into his mind concerning that - it isn't long, and it's not really a 'comedy' outtake...just some insight into why the heck he does what he does - or sort of, anyway. Again, it's not great but nonetheless, please be kind. Thanks! **

**Outtake: Emmett's Thoughts on the Animals**

When this whole week had started, I'd been in a sort of shock that Carlisle thought it was wise to let a bunch of vampires watch of over a whole group of kids. I mean I understood why Rose was excited, but for the rest of us? This was definitely a crap deal. That was what I _had_ thought…as it turned out, I couldn't have been more wrong.

These kids were great! _Mine_ were anyway – a whole group of boys that loved nature and animals and slimy things – I thought they'd be whining about their mommies or something the whole time, but I'd been way off. Alice's group was a little weird, but I think that could really be blamed on Alice herself and not her campers…Alice has a way of effecting everything around her.

As far as my wife…well I don't think I've ever seen her happier, which made me so glad we'd been sent here. I know she's always wanted children more than anything, and it was the one thing I couldn't give her, which truthfully broke my heart. My Rosie deserved everything, and yet she was permanently denied the thing that she wanted most. As soon as we'd arrived and I'd seen the look on her face as she greeted all those little girls, I'd made up my mind to let her be for most of the week so she could really enjoy the moment for what it was – it was temporary, after all, and my usual clinginess would only get in the way. I could at least give her that – I could back off and give her some space for one week – I'd be sure to make up for that lost time when we got home, anyway.

Bella was a riot to watch – she'd had her usual luck and was assigned the clumsiest kid in camp, which made for lots of hilarious moments – one of them being Edward's panic upon realizing Sophie and Bella would be together all week. My bro can freak out over the craziest things – if you ask me, I thought it was awesome – one more way to make the week more entertaining. It's not like any of us would actually let them get hurt, for crying out loud. I hoped after Edward got on with the whole changing Bella thing he'd chill out and learn to just have fun like the rest of us and quit shadowing her everywhere she went.

Too bad for Bella Edward's over protectiveness was the least of her issues this week; that idiot Newton was a counselor too, and it was like he was trying to do everything possible to annoy the crap out of me. He was taking every opportunity to hang all over my little sis and that was _not_ cool…as irritating as Edward could be, Bella was _his_ – and part of _our_ family. And something about sloth-boy Mikey just didn't get that. After his first couple of wrong moves I'd taken it upon myself to make it my goal to humiliate him as much as I could this week. Hell, if he was going to embarrass Bella the way he was, and if he was going to possibly cause Edward to lose his cool and rip Newton's head off, I figured it was the least I could do – besides, it did help to fill in the gaps of nighttime when my boys were sleeping. They were incredibly boring when they were sleeping.

I'd realized pretty early on that Simon had an over eagerness for animals…when he'd arrived and was all upset about leaving Boots at home, but then explained he'd only had room for Sammy and Fred…yeah, I knew things would get interesting. Because honestly? When I saw those two Guinea Pigs peeking out of the tiny cage in his bag I'd felt bad for them – they just wanted to stay with Simon. When he said his parents weren't very good at remembering to feed them I knew he'd made the best decision – we would take care of them. I told Simon about how my family had camped before and I'd found all kinds of little critters that needed help finding their way home or help finding food…that had gotten him all wound up. He started talking about how there were probably all kinds of animals just like that here in these woods too, which got me thinking…but just as quickly I remembered Rose, and knew that I'd better stay in line and under her radar so she could have a carefree week. I'd told Simon we'd better just watch out for Sammy and Fred and leave it at that. Too bad things didn't stay that way for long…

I know everyone thought I was crazy on our last camping trip; we're vampires – vampires who eat animals – yet here I was, hanging out with animals and helping them along. I didn't know how to explain it, really. I think it was something that came from my human life – I'd been a mountain boy, and I'd loved the outdoors. I'd loved animals and getting my hands dirty. Hell, that was how I almost got killed – I'd been so surprised to come across that massive bear in the Smokies that I'd been frozen in shock, and it had attacked before I could react. I'd been just outside of Gatlinburg and I was hiking though the state park, but I'd gone off trail in search of a waterfall and all of a sudden, there he was. I don't remember much of anything else except flying through the air being carried by a heavenly angel – who turned out to by my Rosie. My girl had taught that bear a thing or two.

Anyway, small animals to us were just not appealing – Edward had tried to explain that to Bella before, how they weren't really something we consider to be a food source. Now you get into your larger animals…mountain lions, deer, and of course bears – well, that was entirely different. Their strength, power and blood called to us – whereas a house cat or raccoon's just didn't.

Not long after camp began Simon had been finding all sorts of things around our cabin and in the woods – salamanders, squirrels, you name it – and kept pointing out that maybe _they_ were lost like the animals on my other camping trip had been. I had to admit that at first I resisted, assuring him they were fine, but once the idea was in my head I had a hard time letting it go. What if they were? Simon and some of my other kids had been talking at night in the cabin before bed about how we could have a sanctuary in our cabin for lost animals, and how their families would track their scent down and find them here – if they stayed in one place it would be easier for them to find their lost loved ones. I had to admit it made sense to me…if the lost animals kept running around all over the place how would they ever be found? Best to keep them in one place – it would be easier for everyone. And so our cabin was transformed…of course I'd made sure Rose wouldn't notice, but it turns out she wouldn't have noticed much of anything – she was so lost in her kids that I could have walked around with a squirrel tucked under my arm and she wouldn't have noticed. Not that I would have taken that chance, but I bet I could have. I began gathering all the little lost things Simon pointed out, and even some I found on my own while making the journey from our cabin to Jasper's at night. The possum had been a nice surprise for the kids…that and the flying squirrels. I'd had a hard time explaining exactly how I'd managed to catch those…I couldn't exactly tell them that I'd leapt from tree to tree and jumped off a cliff after one that seemed particularly lost and distressed. No, I'd just told them that the little guys must not have felt up to flying cause they were so sad – and once they started zipping all around the inside of our cabin the boys had all cheered, saying how they must feel much safer and happier now that they were here.

Then I'd found poor, neglected Spaz. He was starving – trying to dig through the trash outside the mess hall like a scavenger. He'd been really upset when I'd approached him – must have been sure I was after his food – but once I got a hold of him he seemed to forget the food and was more interested in playing, taking wild swipes at me. I'd never really considered getting a cat before but once I had him in my arms I had a hard time imagining setting him free – he looked so messed up that I could only assume he'd been on his own for a long time. He really looked quite close to death to be honest. He was scrawny, his coat all blotchy, and when the light hit him he had scars all over him - kind of like Jasper. I bet he'd had to fight his fair share of forest bullies. Turns out he was a bit of a scrapper and liked to play rough, which I thought was funny. He'd swipe his claws, hiss, howl and do the cutest imitation of a growl…it was hilarious.

When I'd first got him back to the cabin we'd had a couple problems with the other animals, so it became clear he couldn't really stay free in there at night. Some of the kids asked what was wrong with him, which made me feel sort of defensive – this was possibly the worst case of neglect and possibly the most impressive case of survival I'd ever seen – there was nothing _wrong_ with him, he was a warrior – a fighter. Nonetheless, I kept him separate at night so we wouldn't have any more issues…just trying to catch the Guinea Pigs that one day had caused enough commotion to attract Rosie's attention, and we didn't need that. And Spaz did seem to have a lot of interest in those Guinea Pigs.

Then that one night I'd thought I'd take Spaz to Jasper's to let him be out at night and have some free play time, but they'd all been so stupid about him. A freaking harmless cat and they were all complaining and overreacting. I would have thought Edward would be more open to the idea of Spaz…I mean cats and dogs don't get along, so if we took Spaz home and let him live around our house, it would be an automatic Jake deterrent if he ever came back, right? If nothing else we could watch them chase each other around the yard for hours.

The only one who seemed unbothered by Spaz was Bella – another reason why she was becoming my favorite sibling, she didn't want to kick him out, and she wasn't afraid of him. She was always so accepting – unlike those other sad excuses for family that were at Jasper's that night. They'd upset poor Spaz so much that he'd ended up running off into the woods and it took me forever to find him again.

Now, as I sit here thinking about tomorrow – the last day of camp - I wonder what will happen after we get back home. Rose busted us today, and she royally ticked off, but she is apparently waiting to kill me until she says goodbye to her kids tomorrow. Of course they are her priority right now, no matter how mad she is at me – and she is definitely mad. It's almost odd that she's so preoccupied with the girls – but I wasn't about to complain. Public humiliation in front of a bunch of ten year olds wasn't something I'd like to experience, so if she was going to let the ax fall back at home so be it.

Only problem was I was in a bit of a situation – apart from the Rosalie problem, that is. Simon and I had become good buddies, and we'd been talking a lot. If we were able to have this awesome sanctuary in a space as small as this crappy cabin, just think of what we could do with the land behind my family's home…I'd told him about how vast the woods were, and how there were no neighbors to get irritated. I probably shouldn't have gone on so much, but the little guy's excitement was catching and before I knew it we were making big plans. Big plans that were going to threaten my life and marriage – big plans that were not only going to tick off my wife, but my entire family. The way I saw it though, after years and years and years, what had I really done other than drive Esme crazy by breaking half of the furniture in the house due to wrestling matches that usually came from us being bored, sit in high school over and over again, sit around the house playing video games – which often lead to breaking more things - or some other meaningless thing? How could they be angry if I was doing something helpful and useful? I just had to wonder if they would see things the same way…because either way, I was sure to have lots of opinions flying my way when they discovered my plans for my new project: The Shelter for Homeless and Neglected or Otherwise Unfortunate Animals. One thing was for certain - the ride home was sure to be hell. I wonder if Edward would let me ride in his car.

**A/N: Please review.**


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